The Chances Of That
by thatobsessivehplass
Summary: James, Fred and Marcus are the reincarnation of the marauders. It's a given that they're adored, with one exception. Meanwhile Rose, Al and Scorpius aren't going to let their cousins take all the pranking glory. See the six miscreants grow up and navigate their way through Hogwarts while wading through relationships and carnage from their pranks. Get ready for a long haul.
1. charms, pancakes and kitty slippers

the chances of that

charms, pancakes and kitty slippers.

Godric's Hollow was bathed in weak sunshine as the sun peeked out over the horizon. The little village slept peacefully on as the birds started twittering in the trees. The woods at the back of Godric's Hollow burst into life with diverse birds serenading the sun's rise. In the woods where the birds trilled so sweetly a house stood alone. A small winding, gravel path meandered it's way through the forest connecting the house to the rest of the world. The house itself was made up of mismatching stones and large glass windows. Honeysuckle and other climbing plants were wrapped around the house giving it a much more natural appearance so it fitted in well with the landscape. The interior of the house didn't have any discernable theme instead a compilation of different people with very different tastes. The house gave of a very homey feel none the less as all the various colours and furniture somehow complimented each other, even the pink poster of a cat and framed quidditch robes somehow worked together. The back windows of the house faced out onto a large expanse of grass with six separate huge rings high above the ground supported by six massive poles. The rings were split into two equal groups; three up the top of the garden and three at the bottom. Trees surrounded the stretch of grass – they were almost as high as the poles. A few of the trees had tyre swings attached to them and there was even a tree house up one of them. They looked careworn from overuse. Hallows house always managed to emit a friendly glow. But perhaps it wasn't the house, maybe it was just the Potters.

James Sirius Potter was snoring loudly in his bed, his Chudley Cannons quilt draped over him haphazardly. His arm hanging off the bed with a quidditch magazine splayed open inches away from his fingertips. The magazine was one of the many objects cluttering up the floor. The biggest of which was a large trunk with a crest emblazoned on the side followed by the word Potter. The lid of the trunk was hanging open displaying the appealing contents such as James' old socks and mangy underwear that surely hadn't seen daylight for at least a year. James grunted in his sleep rolling away from his half packed case. At the opposite end of the room to James and his bed, a collage of quidditch posters dominated his wall with a few moving photos of people dressed in robes laughed and mucked about. Just underneath the posters lay a small wooden desk cluttered with summer homework that was had been stewing there for the six weeks, only to be attended too the previous day in a half hearted attempt to avoid yet another detention. Early September sunlight poured through the gap in his stripy curtains; bleaching his bedside cabinet further. The cabinet was ordinary in every single way from the light shade to the unread book, except from what appeared to the common eye to be an unremarkable drumstick lying on top of it. However things are sometimes not all that they seem, as this particular 'drumstick' was not used to hit snares, it was used for something else entirely. Magic. James' 'drumstick' was actually a wand from Ollivander's that was made out of 11 inches of sycamore wood with a dragon heartstring core. James had produced much magical mischief with this wand so as imaginable he had grown immensely attached to his partner in crime. Above James' head a scarlet and gold scarf hung with the word 'GRYFFINDOR' written in bold letters, two lions roar incessantly from both ends of the scarf. But apart from another quidditch poster near his door the walls were bare as more pictures and more poster were in a chaotic pile on the floor, with various empty wrappers for things like Bertie Bots every flavoured beans and chocolate frog cards strewn on top of the pile while the rest of the litter converged on the floor, miles away from the bin. The floor happened to be the area where his clothes congregated as well it appeared as a large bundle of crumpled fabric lay near his trunk. A tawny owl gave a quiet hoot from where he stood in his cage on top of James' drawers. Cecil's large amber eyes scanned the room before falling on his master. The owl seemingly rolled his eyes in exasperation at his master's sleeping antics before slowly letting his eyelids drop over his amber orbs as he dropped off to sleep as well. But none of the bothered James as he was still snoring contentedly; blissfully unaware of the storm his brother was cooking up for him at that precise moment.

Albus Severus Potter was literally bouncing off the kitchen walls. The milk from his coco pops splashing everywhere as he jiggled around in his seat; to elated to stay still. Al wasn't normally over excited and bubbly – he left that to his cousin Rose – but today was no normal day for any eleven-year-old wizard or witch. No today was the first of September and it had taken long enough to get here. Years of yearning had made the time go stupidly slowly, so slowly in fact Al – he forcefully reminded anyone that he was called Al instead of Albus as he hated his name with a passion (even if Dumbledore was awesome his name really didn't suit Al!) - had read through all his brother's text books already multiple times and packed a week in advanced. As you can tell he was incredibly excited for today, so Harry Potter - being the world renowned brilliant dark lord defeater - decided to charm his eleven-year-old son to bounce of the walls while Al was bouncing around on his chair at breakfast. Unable to keep still as he was overflowing with anticipation. So Al found himself ricocheting of hiss kitchen walls and eventually the hallways. It was great except he really had no idea of how the hell to stop. Unfortunately for Harry his magnificent idea of charming his son to bounce around the three-storey house in Godric's Hollow continually did come with certain drawbacks for him. One of these was Ginny's wrath which was a sure fire thing every time Harry did something stupid like that. After repeatedly calling for her son to check over his all ready neat and pristine luggage to triple check everything was there Ginny went out in search for him. Search she did and she couldn't find him anywhere, it wasn't until he floated past her face that she was able to convince herself he hadn't been kidnapped and forced to eat James' socks or something equally as terrible. After grabbing Al's ankle and leading him down the hall as he glided after her. She entered the kitchen to spy her husband and daughter quietly chortling to themselves. Ginny cleared her throat loudly to grab their attention.

"Now would you like to explain WHY I found Al drifting around the house in his jammies?" she raised one eyebrow at Harry who was now wearing a very sheepish expression.

"Dad didn't do much mum," Lily interrupted the glare Ginny was giving Harry so she could look quizzically at her daughter. "Al was already bouncing off the walls so dad just made it a bit more … literal," her daughter explained, finding it hard to keep the smirk from spreading across her face as she saw her dad's shoulders begin to shake with silent laughter. Ginny had a hard time stopping a tiny smile that was threatening to make an appearance at the edges of her mouth as the nine-year-old finished off with the most innocent expression she could muster. Al however was growing tired of floating there like an oversized balloon coughed to get everyone's attention.

"I think it would be nice if I could, you know, feel the floor again," Al said pointedly. Harry waved his wand with suspicious familiarity and Al was plonked down on the ground. Al smiled at him gratefully as he felt his feet land firmly on the ground.

"the next time I'm up in the air I'll be on a broomstick if you don't mind," he grinned at his dad.

"Okay Al, now that your not floating round the house go and wake your brother up if we miss the train I will not be happy a happy bunny," Ginny hurried Al out of the room. "Lily you need to get changed out of your jammies you don't want to turn up in King's Cross station in them," Lily nodded sagely at her mother's words as she slipped off her chair and into her kitty slippers before she padded out of the kitchen to get changed.

"And you," Ginny said pointing her finger at Harry who visibly swallowed. "Don't even think about doing that again mister! He could've drifted out a window for all you know! Did you even think about what could've happened? I had nearly convinced myself he had been abducted and forced to eat socks! I was worried, you never know if some freak will kidnap our kids for revenge or some other warped reason," she ranted. Harry looked confusedly at his wife at the socks part but thought it was probably wiser not to question the ways of his wife's mind so decided to go for the safe option. He caught her eye and did his best puppy-dog look on her, yep he was pulling out the big guns on this one, it was best to stop her before she really started. He inwardly thanked the twins for that advice about the Weasley women, even if thinking of Fred still caused Harry to feel sad and guilty after nineteen years after it had happened the pain was still there even if it wasn't nearly as ferocious as it was before.

**_Crap._**Ginny thought to herself as she broke eye contact with Harry, **_He knows I always fall for that. Come on Ginny be strong, be strong. Don't let his big cute eyes fool you or that adorable pout take you in, he was levitating our son! Come on you can do this Ginny. Just stay angry for a little while longer. Shit probably shouldn't have looked into his eyes. Damn why does he have to look so sweet eurgh! _**

Harry watched Ginny's internal struggle as he marvelled at the affects this one expression had on her

"Fine I wont rant anymore," Ginny conceded, she really couldn't do anything the power of the puppy eyes. Harry grinned at her, amusement sparkling in his green eyes as he walked over and enveloped Ginny in a hug.

"I knew you couldn't resist me and my charm, no matter how hard you try," Harry smirked slightly as Ginny sighed in defeat.

"I really wish you didn't know about that face, it makes it so much harder to tell you off," she pouted. Harry merely chuckled at this. After fourteen years of marriage Harry had never lost any of his feelings for Ginny and her humour. He kissed the top of her head as she nestled in closer to his chest. "Yet I still love you," Ginny finished; her words were slightly quieter as she spoke them into Harry's shirt. Harry smiled down at her.

"I love you too," he whispered in her ear. They smiled gently at each other and Harry bent down and brushed her lips with his.

"But you have to help James pack his trunk," Ginny grinned at him, ecstatic to avoid that mess. Harry groaned – James was as bad as him at packing, James might've even been worse than Harry! This was definitely another hitch in his master plan.

"Really do I have to Ginny? You know it will be faster if you do it," he pleaded to her. She just grinned back wickedly.

"This is what you get for making our son bounce of the walls, and don't you even try the look on me again. Speaking of our son how long does it take to wake up James?" she asked rhetorically

"In months or years?" Harry asked with mock seriousness. She lightly smacked him on the arm.

"I'll check what's happening," Harry said as he walked out of the kitchen to try and find his sons. As he walked through the door way he quickly turned around to Ginny. "Don't worry so much. I'm sure the boys will be fine," Harry looked into her eyes so she knew he was serious. "There aren't any death eaters left nothing will happen like it did back then," he smiled sadly at her as he turned back to leave.

"Telling me not to worry is like telling you not to have a bloody hero complex," Ginny called after him. Harry chuckled as he bounded up the stairs to search for Al. Ginny moved around the kitchen collecting a frying and the ingredients to make pancakes for James when he got his butt out of bed, however a small sad smile pulled at her features as she thought of those she had lost, the grief and the heavy load of guilt Harry bore on his shoulders. He still thought it was his fault after all these years. She sigh slightly, **_why does Harry always feel guilty when it's not his fault?_** She thought to herself. She continued to brood as she made a stack of pancakes, until James' yell and foul language reached her ears from what she suspected was James' room. She rolled her eyes assuming Al had come up with an inventive way to get his older brother out of bed … again.

Al crept into James' room and tried to step over the mess of broken quills and dirty clothes that covered the floor, but it was an impossible task as there wasn't any carpet to be seen – just a sea of litter.

"Oi James," Al shouted at his brother. James stirred in his sleep slightly but continued his resonating snores. "James get your fat ass out of bed, we're going to be late," Al had made it safely to his brothers bed so prodded him in the arm as an incentive to wake up. Much to Al's disappointment his prodding techniques didn't cause anything to happen, so Al being the optimistic person he was started slapping his brother in the head – because surely his brother would wake up to this so he had an excuse to 'rough and tumble' with his brother. Al's logic must've been wrong as all that happened was James pulled his duvet over his head and continued his peaceful slumber. Suddenly an idea hit Al. Water. He grabbed a glass from James' desk and hurried off to the nearest bathroom and filled it with water. Al dashed back to James' room and waded through the mess until he reached his brother. He grabbed the sheet and pulled it off the bed causing James curled up in a small ball to battle the cold air. Grinning Al held the glass directly above his brother's head and slowly began to tilt it. It started out as just a few drops dotting James' forehead as he twitched, but it developed into a light stream. Now James may have been a heavy sleeper but there was no way he could sleep through that. He awoke with a yell at the harsh wake up, unfortunately for James, Al got such a fright from his roar he swiftly dumped the whole glass of water on his face in reaction. James not being a morning person at all was already more then a little peeved to have been woken up so early was now in murderous rampage mode after being violently awakened and now soaked before nine o'clock in the morning to add insult to injury! He gradually rose out of bed with a death glare already inscribed onto his face. He saw his brother and let out a menacing snarl that had Al quivering in terror.

"Al you little shit, what the fuck were you doing?" James growled at his brother, giving him the full ferocity of his lethal glare.

"Emmmm. I was, ahem, trying to get you up but you weren't waking up so I thought you might need, erm, a bigger push there," Al stutter before finishing off with his most winning smile. James just narrowed his eyes even further and reached for his wand, taking this as a signal to get the hell out before he was hexed to smithereens he scuttled out. It may have been illegal to use magic outside of school but James was never one to follow orders. Swearing loudly to himself James fell out of the bed and stumbled over to his drawers. Cecil opened his eyes once again as James approached, to used to Al's techniques to get really worked up when James started yelling. He rummaged through them until he found a t-shirt and some jeans and threw them on and quickly dropped a few owl treats into Cecil's cage before staggering blurry eyed to the door. He tugged it open to reveal his dad leaning against the wall opposite to his door, a distinctly entertained expression on his face.

"Well don't you look like you've seen the wonders of spring," Harry laughed. James on the other hand just gave him the I-am-not-amused-so-go-away-before-I-do-something-you'll-regret look. He'd managed to perfect this look specifically over the years though he used it mostly in the mornings. The look just made Harry laugh harder.

"Come on, your mum's making pancakes downstairs and I wouldn't want to let them go to waste," James grudgingly turned off his IANASGABIDSYR look – he always thought it looked cooler in initials. James turned to tread the very familiar path to the kitchens.

"James, do you by any chance know where that handy household spell book is?" Harry called after him.

"Bookcase in the study," James called back smiling. His dad would do anything to cheat on packing, even reading that tedious book.

"Good morning sunshine, the earth says hello," Ginny cheerily sang to him as she put the final pancake on his tower and placed it in front of him. James just raised an eyebrow and tucked into his breakfast, too used to his mother's abnormally happy moods in the morning.

"So how did your dear brother wake you up, I should start taking tips from him," Ginny grinned at James. He swallowed his mouthful before explain with a stony look,

"He poured water all over my head," James grimaced at the memory of his abrupt wake up.

"Ah and here I was hoping you'd actually had a shower," Ginny teased him.

"Yeah,I wouldn't keep hoping for that, but then again miracles do happen," James replied with a wink as he demolished another pancake. He finished the last of his breakfast and hurried upstairs – Al wasn't lying when he said they were going to be late. He burst into his bedroom to find Harry standing there with his wand out reading a book. Harry drew a figure of eight in the air while saying "_Stipant luculentam_". The clothes from the floor rode up and neatly folded themselves into the open trunk and the posters, textbooks, homework and even a cauldron that burst out of a cupboard followed the clothes in to form an impeccably tidy and unrecognisable trunk.

"I love magic," Harry murmured to himself as he looked down on his handy work.

"Well I have to say this is a definite improvement to your normal packing dad," James declared as he bent down to examine his trunk. Harry chuckled.

"I really need to remember that, it would make the last day of term so much easier can you write it down please dad, pretty please," James begged his dad. Harry grinned and summoned a piece of parchment and a quill and scribbled it down. James grinned and forced the parchment into his jean pockets.

"Come on! We're going to be late!" Al's voice called up the stairs. Harry levitated James' trunk down the stairs while James grabbed his wand and Cecil then followed his dad. The whole Potter family were waiting next to the door for James as he trudged down the remaining steps to join them.

"All right everyone got everything? Pets, wands and trunks all present? Okay lets go," Ginny commanded. The family strolled over to the car and piled in, clicking in seat belts and moving Cecil and Al's owl Saba into more comfortable positions while Harry jammed the trunks into the boot immensely thankful for the undetectable extension charm. Harry climbed in and started the engine before driving down their solitary road.

"So Al what house do you want to be sorted into?" James asked his brother, sensing an opportunity to get his revenge for the wake up call.

"Gryffindor obviously," Al answered his brother looking confused. Everyone knew all the potters and Weasleys wanted to be in Gryffindor.

"Well what about Slytherin?" James asked innocently, well aware of the havoc he was about to play with his brother.

"What why would I want to go there? There's no way I'll be in Slytherin."

"Ah, ah, ah. Never say never - you could be sorted into Slytherin for all you know," James teased. Al was starting to look worried by this point.

"But I'm not evil," he protested.

"Al Slytherins aren't inherently evil," Harry butted in. he was still trying to fight prejudices on both sides. It seemed the 'evil' side was much more receptive than the 'good' side but then again they hadn't had their families ripped apart by others stupid bigotry.

"Exactly Al, whose to say you won't be in Slytherin which is now a perfectly normal house now?" James put in innocently, grinning at his younger brother.

"But I'm a Gryffindor. Not a Slytherin, I can't be a Slytherin if I'm a Gryffindor," Al reassured himself.

"But you haven't tried on the sorting hat yet have you?" Al blanched at this.

"I won't be a Slytherin, I won't be a Slytherin, I won't be a Slytherin," he repeated his mantra continually to himself. James was having a hard time stopping himself from laughing at Al's discomfort.

"How do you know that Al?" James interrupted Al's mutterings. The car journey continued like that - James teasing Al, while Al either tried to convince himself he was a Gryffindor or argue back heatedly until they reached King's Cross. Everyone (except James) annoyed by the argument.

* * *

**A/N: hi this is my first fanfic so it would be really helpful if you reviewed *hint, hint* ;)**

**just wanted to say that: thoughts are ****_written like this _****and spells are **_written like this_

**and I'm sure I'll find some other things that need to be written differently :)**

**hope you enjoyed still got a bazillion other people to introduce and it gets a lot more interesting then introducing an excited eleven-year-old and his brother with a phobia for mornings and his sister with a cat obsession. hopefully you won't find it too tedious or confusing though!**

**-that lass xxx**


	2. swamp,nerves and embarrassment

The chances of that

chapter 2 - swamps, nerves and embarrassment

As the Potters made their way into the station, four Weasleys ran through to platform 9 ¾ . Hugo and Rose wincing when they reached the large column that lead to the platform and gripped onto their parents' arms tightly. Opening her eyes, Rose gazed around the platform. It was teeming with students, parents and various pets – at one point Rose was sure she saw a miniature lion. She grasped Ron's arm as he fought through the crowds to get to the Hogwarts express.

"Let's find you a compartment Rosie," Ron looked down at his daughter as he led her onto the train her hand was clasped firmly in one of his hands will he wheeled her trunk along in the other. Rose followed her Dad as he sighed reminiscently as they passed the carriages, he was thinking of the time they'd turned Malfoy into a slug – Ron may have puked them up but at least he didn't turn into one like the slimy git! Rose peered into the compartments all of which were filled with talking teenagers recounting their holidays and catching up with friends. Rose started to tug on a loose thread on her brand new school robes.**_ What if nobody likes me? What if I don't have anyone to talk to?_** She thought despairingly to herself. Rose was usually a bubbly and confident person but her personality really couldn't make up for her nerves this time. Eventually Ron found an empty carriage and let go of her hand to put her trunk away. As they got off the train to go look for Al and the rest, Rose found herself feeling slightly sick and was sure she was turning green as her throat tightened and a gnawing sensation started in the pit of her stomach. She reached out and retook Ron's hand as they hopped back onto the platform. Ron felt her small hand slip into his and turned round to her. He smiled slightly as he saw Rosie had taken on the greenish tinge he always had before a quidditch match.

"Rosie, you don't have to be so nervous," he said as he bent down to her eye level, "you'll have a great time." Rose looked up to her dad not knowing how he could promise those things. How did he know that she wasn't going to be abandoned with no friends and end up in an apartment with thirty cats all alone driven crazy after years of solitude? Rose's imagination spun wildly out of control as she imagined herself throwing kittens at kids from her bedroom window. She started feeling like she was going to throw up. Ron sighed, as her only reaction was to turn a more intense shade of green.

"What's the matter Rosie? You can tell me," Rose looked at Ron through frightened eyes.

"What if no one likes me? What if I don't have anyone to talk to? I don't want to throw cats at children!" Rose blurted out to her dad. Ron smiled at his daughter; she was ever the pessimist. She and Harry should've made a club.

"Rosie, calm down. You've got Al already so of course he'll talk to you! I'm sure you can make your own friends though, you're caring, sweet, kind and something interesting always happens when you're around. Anyway if they didn't want to be friends with you they'd be blind and not worth wasting your time on. Also me and your mum will write to you with pig so you best keep us informed because I'm sure you'll have a fun time Rosie; you always do," Ron finished smiling at his daughter. Rose felt slightly embarrassed from her freak out now – even if the image of her forty-year-old self throwing cats out of a window did still remained in the back of her mind. Of course her dad was right. She smiled at Ron.

"Come on, we'll have to find the others now," she pulled Ron along searching for her mother's bushy hair. Ron smiled to himself; she could be just as bossy as her mother at times.

As soon as James reached platform 9 ¾ he rushed of towards the scarlet train dragging his trunk and Cecil behind him. He jumped on board the train and went in search of Fred and Marcus. He found them playing exploding snap on Fred's case; the scent of singed hair over powered his nostrils as he stepped into the compartment. Coughing slightly he sat down next to Fred, grinning at him and Marcus.

"We haven't even left yet and your exploding things," he exclaimed with a smiled. Fred and Marcus laughed knowing James would be blowing up things left, right and centre as soon as they got to Hogwarts. "So have you got the swamp and powder Fred?" James asked, suddenly in his serious mode – only ever seen when planning a prank. Fred reached into his trunk - which was a little burnt from the cards. He pulled out a small bag from the bottom and proudly held it aloft.

"This is going to be awesome," Marcus whispered, looking at the bag with reverence.

"So true, I can't wait to see Molly's face!" Fred laughed to himself. Molly was his and James' fifth year cousin who happened to be ridiculously strict when it came to any rule breaking at all, so obviously Fred and James were not her favourite relatives to put it mildly. James snorted with laughter.

"She's going to freak out so badly!" James exclaimed excitedly. All three of them wore maniacal grins at the thought of the havoc they were about to unleash.

"Should we start planting the powder then?" Marcus asked, the other boys nodded. "Okay James you take the end carriages – but be careful I saw Victoire up there earlier. I'll take the middle section because Molly and Dominique are there and they trust me the most and Fred you take the front but be careful, the prefects' compartment is there so for the love of Merlin try and be subtle! Also don't say the spell 'til we've finished adding the final touches!" Marcus finished their strategy and reached into the small bag to grab a large handful of the new and improved Peruvian instant darkness powder. The others followed suit before scampering out of the carriage and separating to release their summer project onto the unsuspecting Hogwarts population.

Teddy Lupin apparated onto platform 9 ¾ at ten to eleven. He had promised Victoire that he'd see her off for today. As he pushed his way through the crowd Bill Weasley spotted him.

"Teddy," he called, beckoning Teddy over so he wouldn't have to shout. "She's in the end compartment," Bill said, knowing full well there was nothing he could do to stop him seeing Victoire, so he didn't put up any real resistance. He was comforted by the fact it was Teddy of all people – he knew he wouldn't hurt his little princess. Teddy thanked him and walked over to the carriage, eager to get away from Bill. Teddy liked Bill and all, but during the summer it'd got just a tiny bit awkward after explaining that he was snogging his daughter. He slid open the compartment door to find Victoire sprawled along the seats reading a book. He stood there just looking at her for a minute. He still couldn't believe his luck. After years of secretly liking Victoire but refusing to say anything encase it ruined their friendship he found out she liked him to. Smiling to himself he sat down on the edge of one of the seats she was lying across. Victoire glanced up from her book to see who was disturbing her time with Mr Holmes and Dr Watson. She broke into a radiant smile when she saw him. Teddy had come to see her off after all! She wasn't sure if he'd be able to get the morning off his auror training programme. She threw herself at him and enveloped him in a massive hug. Teddy laughed at her enthusiasm and returned the embrace.

"Teddy I can't believe you're actually here!" Victoire cried in delight, "how did you get out of training?"

"Well it helps when your instructor's taken the morning off too," he smiled. Harry always put family first.

"Of course, it's Al's first year! Rosie's too, Merlin they're going to be a handful," she smiled; those two always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time! Teddy chuckled quietly to himself he had plenty of experience catching those two red-handed.

"I'm going to miss you," he whispered into her ear as he stopped laughing. It was his first year out of Hogwarts and he didn't know what he was going to do without having Victoire's laughter at breakfast to wake him up and her wit that made him laugh no matter what. He sighed; those thoughts were just depressing. Victoire snuggled closer into his chest.

"Well let's make the best of the time we have now," she whispered back to him. Smiling he caught her lips and wrapped one hand around her waist while the other slid up into her silvery blonde hair. She smiled against his lips and slipped her arm around his neck. They were so absorbed in each other they didn't notice a certain James Potter amble into Victoire's compartment.

"Oi, oi Teddy!" James called effectively breaking the two apart. They both flushed vivid shades of red. "So come on, what's the excuse for being so handsy with Victoire?" James asked, smirking; Teddy had just giving him a years supply of teasing at least. Teddy flushed an even brighter shade of red.

"I'm just … seeing her off," James just snickered at Teddy's excuse.

"Oh so that's what your tongue was doing in her gob," James said grinning with a striking resemblance to the Cheshire cat.

"James just get the hell out of here," Victoire snapped at him.

"Sure, I'll just leave you to it then," he said winking at Teddy who hadn't thought it would be possible for him to be this mortified now had bright red hair to match his face. James scurried out of the compartment after subtle dropping what looked like a black rock, and continued down the train giggling in a very un-manly way as he rushed to tell the adults his breaking news.

"Well now that the whole family knows we may as well get back on with it," Victoire grinned at Teddy as she pulled him closer to her.

Al and Rose settled down in their compartment, both of them looked a hell of a lot better than they first arrived at the platform.

"Do you think we will get into Gryffindor?" Rose asked Al quietly. Al smiled at her.

"'Course we will," he told her bracingly, "If you really want to be a Gryffindor I'm sure you will." He grinned knowing they weren't just empty words of comfort. She smiled at her cousin, Al always had a way of reassuring her even when they'd been caught in dire situations, like that time when they were seven and they'd stolen her dad's wand and enlarged a spider to massive proportions. Ron was absolutely livid - and a tiny bit scared even though he wouldn't admit to it – but Al somehow managed to pull her through even that. She looked out the window to see her mum and dad waving her off she grinned at them. A shock of bright blue hair caught her eye as she saw Teddy waving Victoire off. It took them long enough to get together, even Rose could tell they'd been pining for each other.

Someone knocked on the door. Rose's eyes swivelled up to see who it was. A tall boy stood outside. He was pale as a sheet and had white/blonde swept into a side parting covering his forehead. His eyes were a silvery grey colour and were full of worry at the moment. This boy it seemed to Rose didn't want to fit into a category (apart from perhaps albino); he didn't have just blonde hair or just grey eyes he had extra colours thrown in there as well. It made him much more noticeable. But then again Rose's flaming red hair didn't exactly let her fade into the background either.

"Can I sit in here?" he asked cautiously. Rose smiled at him – he seemed so nervous.

"Sure make yourself comfortable," she said encouragingly. The boy smiled in relief.

"Thanks, I didn't think I'd ever find somewhere to sit. Nobody really likes me, you know, being a Malfoy and all," he explained, thinking it was probably best to get his surname out of the way in case they wanted to chuck him out of the compartment, he'd already had that experience that today so he was getting used to it – slightly. Something clicked in Rose's head – this was the boy her dad had told her not to get too friendly with. **_Well I can't go back on my word now! _**She thought,**_ but then again dad doesn't really know this boy and he really is too quick to judge a lot of the time. Sure I've heard the stories but he's not his dad, I'll give him a chance everyone deserves at least one._** She concluded. At least this explained why her dad had told her to beat a random boy at her tests.

"Yeah I suppose a lot of people have prejudices against you," Al put in. Malfoy's face fell at this. "But don't worry as long as your not some secret death eater you'll be fine," Al finished of with a smile. He like Rose didn't want to judge him to quickly. Harry had also told him many a time that he should never judge anyone by the background – only on who they were. Malfoy smiled gratefully at them, thanking his lucky stars he'd eventually met some open minded people!

"Well I can guarantee you I'm not. I'm called Scorpius by the way, I guess I should've said that earlier," he said smiling slightly. Rose grinned at him.

"I'm Rose and this is Albus – but if you call him that he'll rip your head off so it's safer sticking with Al," Rose smirked at Al who playfully stuck his tongue out while Scorpius laughed at their antics.

"So what house do you want to be in then?" Scorpius asked, though he could guess where a Potter and a Weasley would want to go.

"Both Gryffindor. What about yourself?" Rose questioned. Scorpius smiled slightly – he'd been right.

"Anything but Slytherin," Scorpius shuddered slightly. "I'm sure Grandfather will have a thing or two to say about that, but I don't think I can stand being in there. Everyone would just judge me by my surname." Rose grinned at him; so far he wasn't at all like the Malfoy Ron ranted about.

"You should be in Gryffindor with me and Al! It's the house that causes the most mischief and I'm not getting left out of it," she grinned at Scorpius who laughed.

"Now that sounds good! You never know I might be the first ever Malfoy Gryffindor," he smiled at the thought.

"I'm not sure you want to get involved with our dear Rosie's pranks," Al chuckled. "I'm betting she's going to have more time in detention then out," Al smirked at her. Rose just laughed knowing it was probably true. They struck up a conversation about quidditch soon after discovering Scorpius was a die-hard Cannons fan. However their chatter was cut short as the whole carriage was suddenly shrouded in darkness.

"Someone open the door so we can get out," Rose called to the others as she blindly made her way towards the exit. Scorpius managed to open the door causing them all to tumble out in a massive heap. However the carpeted train floor they had been expecting to break there fall wasn't there, instead their faces were met with a muddy, rank, putrid swamp that covered the whole train.

"JAMES!" Al shouted down the train.

Fred, James and Marcus met up again after they'd all planted their powder. They all grinned at each other as Marcus pulled out the portable swamp. Suddenly another idea stuck James.

"Hang on a sec," he told his friends as he brought down his trunk and rummaged through the pristinely packed clothes to find his half finished charms essay. He began ripping it to shreds knowing he could easily redo it in the common room that night. Fred and Marcus just looked at him quizzically as he destroyed his homework. He pulled his wand out of his pocket and muttered a colour-changing spell under his breath. He smirked triumphantly as he turned the parchment bright pink.

"I think I can still embarrass Victoire a little bit more," he muttered to himself as he shoved the confetti into this other pocket. "Right let's go. You'll find out what it's for later," he added with a wink as he saw Marcus and Fred's confused expressions. The trio trooped out of the compartment into the deserted corridor outside.

"On the count of three," Fred commanded, "one, two, three" they all flicked their wands and said "_tenebris_" together. All of the compartments suddenly filled with a thick black smoke as the trio high-fived each other.

"Marcus would you do the honours?" James asked. Marcus grinned in return and dropped the portable swamp and muttered the incantation. The small packet burst to life, water poured out everywhere and flooded the entire train. Mud and grass tufts erupted from the packet when it had run out of water to spew everywhere. After the grass and mud had settled down in their correct places it all began to let of the most rancid smell imaginable. It was like being stuck in a tiny broom cupboard after a thousand dungbombs had been let off.

"And that my friends, is why my dad is awesome," Fred laughed as the other two grinned in appreciation. As the trio looked around and saw all the school falling into their trap they whooped with glee – it had been pulled of perfectly. They made their way to the end of the train – James was sure he heard Al shout at him but ignored him, they also passed Molly struggling next to Alex Stoneman of all people which caused their smirks to become even smugger, but James didn't dwell on that pleasant meeting, he always thought it best not to think of depressing thoughts like death threats – to where he saw Victoire struggling to get out of the marsh. She looked up at to see James standing over her, grinning his evil grin as he watched her futile attempts to get out of the mud.

"You are going to pay for this," she glared at him. James merely chuckled.

"I don't think I will, but then again the show isn't over yet," he added brightly as he smirked down at her and saw the colour drain from her face. Whatever James was planning it wasn't going to be good for Victoire.

"Don't you dare do anything," she warned him. James smiled sweetly putting an unconvincing innocent face as if to say 'what me?' while the other two sniggered. James reached into his pockets and pulled out his wand and  
the haphazardly made confetti. He pointed the want at his throat, grinning at Victoire.

"_Sonorus_," James said, "CONGRATULATIONS VICTOIRE WEASLEY ON FINALLY GETTING YOUR ACT TOGETHER AND SHOVING YOUR TONGUE DOWN TEDDY LUPIN'S THROAT!" James shouted to the entire train while throwing his pink confetti over Victoire's head. Teddy had easy before; his embarrassment was nothing on Victoire's. The whole entire train was staring at her while James through pink pieces of parchment over her as she wriggled more desperately to get out of the swamp. She could've died in embarrassment – but not before she killed James first. "I AM SURE THAT THE STUDENT'S AT HOGWARTS WILL WISH YOU WELL! EVEN IF SOME MAY BE JEALOUS OF OUR DEAR TEDDY!" James finished of looking down at Victoire who now somewhat resembled a tomato. "_Quietus,_" he whispered to his throat, thereby finishing his little show. Fred and Marcus were in hysterics as the clutched each other to keep themselves vertical.

"James Sirius Potter you are fucking dead you wanker," Victoire hissed at him as she wriggled about furiously trying to free herself from the swamp.

"Funny you'd think I'd have felt something," James replied before sauntering off back down the train, chuckling as the rest of the school floundered about trying to free themselves from the sticking spell.

Molly Weasley was not in the mood for this. She was going to kill her two stupid, idiotic cousins when she got out of this bloody swamp. If they thought they'd seen her angry they really were naïve.

After listening to her dad drone on about broomstick regulations on the platform she'd eventually escaped to the express only then to remember that her two best friends Helen and Spencer Miller were still in America and weren't getting back for another two days. Sighing to herself she'd gone to find Dominique. She was a compartment with Ruby and Cassidy who besides occasionally gossiping way too much were actually really funny. So she'd joined them happily, chatting away about the holidays, when who out of the entire student body of Hogwarts should walk in but Alex bloody Stoneman. The idiot strutted right into their compartment before sitting next to Dominique and flirting with her like there was no tomorrow. Molly obviously didn't care whom Stoneman flirted with but he could've done it somewhere else for Merlin's sake! She could feel herself get more and more angry by the second. Who the hell did he think he was? However just as she was about to tell him to go bother someone else who gave a rats ass about his pathetic flirting techniques the whole compartment was filled with smoke. Molly grabbed the door handle and opened the door to get out of the dark cabin, to be pushed out as everyone else came running out the cabin.

And now here she was stuck. Right beside Alex Stoneman, the dictionary definition of the word annoying. He'd never changed since first year. It was like he refused to grow up. He was constantly immature doing things like repeating everything Molly said in a higher, reedy voice. And Molly was not known to keep her temper under control. So for the past four years Hogwarts had gotten used to the shouting matches exhibited by the two after they wound each other up to the brink of a tantrum. As Molly furiously thought of a way to get out of this horrendous situation she saw the culprits amble past taking in the sights of the mayhem they'd caused. As they sauntered past Molly could literally see red.

"JAMES POTTER AND FREDRICK WEASLEY I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!" She screamed at them. They paused for a second in shock that their goody-two-shoes cousin had actually sworn before they carried on to find Victoire. It'd take her at least half an hour to get out of there. She struggled so violently that she managed to break through the spell in fifteen minutes. But it was fifteen minutes of torture as Stoneman consistently took the mick out of her and made stupid comments that really got her blood boiling so much quicker than usual. After she freed herself, she strode off to find Victoire - if anyone could help her get revenge Victoire could. Especially after James had embarrassed her that much. She found Victoire still struggling to get out and swearing profusely in French. Molly offered her hand to her, which Victoire gratefully accepted.

"We need to get them back," Molly stated. Victoire nodded her head.

"I think we should spread it over the year, so they don't know when it's coming or what it is. It's always better to have an upper hand like that," Victoire went into her 'battle mode'. "I think we should start off with ordinary things like getting them howlers from home. But the occasional well placed tripping or jelly-legs jinxes wouldn't be too bad either - attacking them in the shadows," Victoire smile grew a tad evil as she planned it out.

"What about their late night wanderings?" Molly asked. Victoire just looked confused. "We could convince the fat lady to go visit her friend Violet one night. I mean there's nothing too suspicious about paintings walking out of there frames, so they'd never be able to blame us," Molly explained. Victoire hugged her.

"You are an evil genius! This is going to be epic! But you'll have to go away and shout at them for a bit so they don't suspect a thing," Victoire hurried her away, her head full of revenge.

Molly eventually located the idiots and gave them a shouting they wouldn't forget in a hurry and promised them that letters would be sent home. It was good to let out some of her anger by shouting. As she stalked away from their carriage, she couldn't contain a small evil grin that tugged at her mouth.

As Molly strode back to her compartment she passed one girl who was very nearly as angry as Molly was. Belle Ferthway was sick of James freaking Potter and his cronies trying to be all cool when really they were just pathetic little losers. She couldn't understand them for the life of her, how the hell was sticking the entire school in a swamp funny? They also constantly disrupted classes with their stupid pranks and generally distracted her from her studying. And as a Ravenclaw her study time was very precious and it was an act of sacrilege for anyone to disrupt it. But Belle was a witch to be reckoned with, so James Potter should really watch out when eventually he pushed her over the edge.

Al, Rose and Scorpius eventually managed to squirm their way free and headed back into their compartment.

"James must've been adopted," Al said. He'd been trying to convince himself of this for the past twenty minutes as they'd struggled in the mud. Unfortunately the messy Potter hair was a dead give away that he was indeed related to Al.

"Aw crap, I've got mud all over my robes," Rose moaned, inspecting her brand new robes that had been impeccable an hour ago. She sighed and pointed her wand at her clothes. "_scourgify,_" she muttered hoping desperately the spell would work. To her delight it siphoned off a lot of the mud, so she repeated the charm a few times until her robes were returned to their previous state. Smiling she turned to Al and Scorpius and removed the gunk on their clothes as well.

"Thanks," they said simultaneously. They smiled at each other before forcing Rose to turn around so they could get changed into their robes – they'd wasted a lot of the journey stuck in that bloody swamp so they were near Hogwarts already.

"That was amazing charms work by the way," Scorpius commented as Rose turned around. "We're not supposed to learn that for a while yet," Scorpius explained after Rose gave him a questioning look. Rose blushed at the compliment. She liked getting compliments but she still had a hard time accepting them.

"I just picked it up from mum doing it round the house," Rose shrugged, "I bet you could do it if you tried." Scorpius just smiled at her as the train began to slow down.

"Here we go," Al muttered as the train stopped in Hogsmeade station. Rose spotted Hagrid's huge frame from the window and smiled. At least she already knew one of the professors. She took Scorpius and Al's hand impulsively.

"Let's go then," she said to them, and the trio walked towards Hagrid, ready to start a new chapter in their lives.

* * *

**A/N: second chapters here woooo ;) I'm kinda proud of myself at how fast I uploaded this but I just hope you guys enjoy it :)**

**also I realised I didn't put a discalimer in my first chapter so here it is ahem, ahem ...**

**disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything you recognise, it all belongs to J.K Rowling or the various people I may end up quoting. This goes for the rest of my story because I really can't be bothered to write a disclaimer for every single chapter I write ;) **

**Also just wanted to say thanks to backtohogwarts and EmMyers for taking the time to review :)**

**Enjoy and any reviews are always welcome **

**- that lass xxx**


	3. hats, boats and heads

The Chances Of That

Hats, boats and heads

Dominique Weasley sat in one of the school's Thestral drawn carriages with Ruby, Cassidy and Molly – all the Gryffindor girls together. She desperately tried with all her might to stop her self laughing at her cousin Molly, who sat facing her with a stony face. They hadn't even reached the school yet and Molly had already screamed at Fred and James. Molly was dependable to shout at them, no matter how small the prank. Normally Dominique wouldn't have found her cousin's usual bout of shouting to funny – only worth a small snigger at most - no it was why she was shouting at them which made Dominique perch on the edge of bursting out into hysterical laughter.

The frantic way that Molly had tried to escape from the swamp made her look like a cat trying to get out of a bath, it was enough to reduce even Professor McGonagall to at least a chuckle. But the cherry on top of it all, that made Dominique nearly cry with laughter, was Alex Stoneman. Dominique knew she put up with all his flirting and immaturity for a reason, and here was the proof. He'd started of small with comments like "I think you're a little wet there Weasley." Normally this would've caused Molly to give him a disdainful look before striding of in the opposite direction, however with no viable way to storm off and her anger at it's peak she'd reacted so much more intensely after every silly remark. Alex of course loved that he was getting a reaction so carried on; every comment was getting her worked up more and more. Alex, who had been bearing a massive smirk on his face, decided that after about ten minutes of annoying her verbally, it was time to exaggerate everything she was doing. He started wiggling around like an eel while he pulled a face that made him look like he'd swallowed a box of U-NO-POOs. This had caused Ruby and Cassidy to erupt in peals of laughter. Dominique thought she should be more supportive of her cousin when she was in this dire situation didn't join in with their mirth - interrupt as: she didn't want to get caught laughing by Molly and face her wrath. When Molly had eventually rid herself of the sticking charm she stormed off – Dominique presumed she was going to find Fred and James to relieve her anger – Alex twisted his head in the opposite direction and stuck his nose snootily in the air. This caused (along with the absence of her cousin) Dominique's tinkering laugh to join her fellow Gryffindor's laughter.

After ten minutes of trying to reign in their laughter they were freed by the head boy as he walked along the train vanishing the swamp has he went; he looked thoroughly exasperated with the trio's trick. So after Alex went back to wherever he came from and Molly returned to get changed into her robes they found themselves in that carriage. All - except one - trying for the life of them not to so much as snigger. Eventually Dominique couldn't contain it any longer and burst into a fit of laughter. She'd probably pay for it dearly but she really couldn't help it.

"Firs' years! Firs' Years over here!" Hagrid's voice boomed over the din of the station. "All right you two, enjoy yeh holidays?" Hagrid asked Rosie and Al as they hurried over to Hagrid. They both grinned at him and nodded. He beamed back at them and continued calling the rest of the first years over. Scorpius sent Al and Rose a questioning look, pondering how they happened to be on speaking terms with the humongous man when Scorpius found he wouldn't be able to squeak a sentence to the intimidating giant.

"Family friend," Rose said, correctly interpreting Scorpius' gaze. The rest of their year joined them shortly.

"Everyone here? Righ' follow me." Hagrid called to the sea of eleven year olds. Hagrid turned around and walked down a thin, muddy track. The rest of the year flocked after him. The path inclined as they trudged along causing them to slip and fall in the dying light.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a mo'," Hagrid rounded a bend in the trail. Al was the first to round the corner.

"Wow," Al whispered in awe of the looming castle. The sprawling building greeted Scorpius and Rose's eyes as they caught up with Al – he'd stopped to take in the building that would be his home for the next seven years – it captured Rose's imagination straight away. The turrets were begging for long blonde locks draped out of them for a prince to climb up like that story her mum used to read to her when she was tucking Rose in at night. Rose could almost see King Arthur and his knights bursting out of the huge front doors. Scorpius stopped to gaze at Hogwarts as well. Intimidating. That was the only word Scorpius could think of as his eyes took in the whole fortress. His gaze lingered slightly on the dungeons. He refused to make the same mistakes his father had made in his time. The first step was breaking the chain of Malfoy Slytherins. He tore his eyes away from Hogwarts to look at Al and Rose. **_Maybe it won't be too bad _**he thought to himself. **_I already know Al and Rose, they weren't that fussed about my last name. What if it won't matter? What if I actually make friends?_** He smiled as he looked at Al and Rose. He doubted they knew how much it had meant when they let him into their compartment and actually talked to him, they didn't even recoil when he said who he was. But then again he had been rejected by at least five different people before finding the pair of them. **_You really are such a pessimist, _**a voice in his head reprimanded him.**_ It's not all doom and gloom_** **_you should try being happy. Not sure if you've heard of it before._**

**_Shut up I know how to be happy obviously. You try being a Malfoy and see how you like it! _**He argued back to his internal voice

**_I'm you dip-shit! Grow a backbone; people are going to accept you. Merlin, do you even think about me when you get all moody and life is so unfair on poor little me? I have to listen to you moaning on to you know!_** Scorpius was starting to get really annoyed with his brain. Why wouldn't he just shut up?

**_Yeah well you don't have to listen, just tune out or something._**

**_Believe it or not I don't have an off button, anyway you're the one imaging me up. If you're so annoyed try making me a little cherub then! What's that, no you can't 'coz I'm here to stop you getting all woe-is-me every freaking day. You know I'm right obviously because your me, or am I you? Hmmm… anyway your argument is invalid!_** Scorpius had to give it to himself that he did put up a good argument. A hand waved in front of his face. He blinked and shook his head. He came out of his stupor to see Rose Weasley grinning at him.

"You zoned out for a bit there. Are you okay?" She asked.

"Internal arguments do that to me," he grinned back at her.

"Ah yes that stupid voice does get maddening," she laughed as the two made their way over to the pack of students. Rose scanned them trying to find Al in their midst as he'd gone on without them so the three of them could get a boat together. She spotted his messy hair near Hagrid's elbow, but decided she would let him catch up with Hagrid – they hadn't seen each other in ages.

"So what were you arguing about?" she looked at Scorpius' face to see his lips pull up into a half-smile.

"Just what Hogwarts is going to be like," he said.

"It's going to be epic!" Rose exclaimed. She had no idea why he was having an argument about Hogwarts but she knew when they settled in it was going to be great, her dad had really helped her calm down and let her vivacious personality shine through. "I bet it'll be dead fun. Just imagine all the opportunities for trouble!" her eyes started shining. "Of course you and Al will get dragged into it as well, I have a habit of doing that with people. The messes I've got Al into… There's quidditch as well! I'm going to try out for the team next year, I've never been great but it would be supermegafoxyawesomehot if I got in!" She grinned to herself, her eyes dancing with anticipation for when she finally got into Hogwarts. Scorpius found himself caught up in her excitement and was actually looking forward to getting to Hogwarts. It was a first.

They eventually caught up with the rest of the group, their voices still babbled on about Hogwarts – though Rose's voice was most prominent – They came to a stop near a vast lake.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid boomed over the quiet expanse. All the first years scrabbled to a boat. Rose and Scorpius found Al by himself in a boat. They both toppled into it landing ungracefully at the bottom. Scorpius got up laughing and held a hand out to Rose to help her up. She gratefully accepted chuckling herself and they sat down on the wooden bench facing Al.

"What did Hagrid get up to then?" Rose asked Al as she moved about on the cold seat trying to get comfortable.

"He's still trying to get Grawp a girlfriend! He spent most of his time abroad trying to convince one of them to come back. Somehow none of them did," Al said shaking his head. Rose lapsed back into the chuckles she had just finished.

"Ah, Hagrid," she said fondly. "He always provides entertainment. Do you remember that time he brought a niffler to our house, I don't think I've ever seen something so funny especially when mum started shouting. But I don't think McGonagall would've been to impressed if Hagrid had managed to bring back a giantess," she finished smirking at the thought of McGonagall's reaction. Al smirked too, the headmistress put up with a lot of things for Hagrid but even she would've been pushed over the edge when she found the extra giant wandering round Hogwarts. As Rose and Al chortled a timid looking girl approached their boat. She bit her lip nervously as she hid her face in her wavy brown hair. Her face peeked out from the curtains, her features were average – just another face seen in a crowd to be quickly scanned over but never remembered.

"D-do you mind if I-I sit here?" She stuttered, shifting her weight from one foot to another nervously.

"Sure, go for it," Al smiled warmly at the girl. This caused a small blush to highlight her cheeks as she took in his appearance and made the obvious connection to Harry Potter.

"Thanks," she smiled hesitantly at him.

"So what's your name?" Rose asked as the girl climbed into the boat.

"Heather. Heather Addlington," she said. "I already know your names though. It's a bit hard not to," she smiled shyly at them, her large hazel eyes drifted down to the boats base. "You're Albus Potter, Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy right? It's a bit hard not to know who you are with your parents in the press so often," she glanced up at them.

"Yeah. I suppose we won't really have to introduce ourselves to often," Al ran his hand through his hair. He'd never really 'embraced' the attention from the media as James had

"Sorry, it must be annoying for you. Everyone knows you, your family and probably every pet you've ever had, yet you don't know them at all," Heather looked up at the three of them. "I'd never be able to go through that, but that's just me I guess," her mouth tugged up into a half-smile.

"It does get unbearable at times," Scorpius smiled at Heather, wondering if she was always this insightful.

"Righ' everyone in? Okay FORWARD," Hagrid roared at the little fleet. The quartet found themselves sliding along the benches as the boat was propelled forward. Al and Scorpius grabbed the seat to stop them from slipping backwards. Al caught Heather to stop her crushing him and Scorpius did the same with Rose.

"Well that was fun," Rose said happily as Scorpius let go of her. Scorpius rolled his eyes at her but felt a grin spread across his face. Al released Heather as well. Heather immediately hid her face behind her hair to cover her vivid red face. As they crossed the lake the quartet chatted amiably to each other. They started to relax round each other as Rose and Al told Scorpius and Heather stories of there past misdemeanours that had them all in stitches. The castle inched closer and closer as the convoy sailed through the water.

"Mind yer heads!" Hagrid called to the first years as they reached cliff. They all ducked obediently and passed through the curtain of ivy and into the cave. The boats docked in the underground harbour. The first years climbed out of the boats. When they'd all managed to get out Hagrid set off up the staircase. The rest of the group trailed after him following the light of his lamp. They eventually reached the top of the stairs. Al was quite surprised to find himself outside and standing on a patch of grass. Hagrid led them to the huge oak doors that Rose had pictured knights bursting out of. He raised his giant fist and knocked on the door three times with a resounding boom.

Louis Weasley was laughing with his mates in a Thestral drawn carriage. They were reliving the prank the second year trio had just played. Louis always found the trio hilarious when they got together at school and often encouraged them – much to his sister's disapproving glare she gave him every time Louis gave them yet another idea – though he never got in trouble himself. He was too clever to get involved with the trio's exuberant plans that often landed them in detentions. His Ravenclaw trained mind just came up with the initial ideas but kept him from participating. He was quite proud of the trio though, if he said so himself. All Louis had done was say no one had ever done anything on the express in passing and they'd done all that! He was actually surprised that he was the only Ravenclaw Weasley.

"Do you think Victoire's really going out with Teddy?" Jack asked Louis.

"Yes it was a bit hard to miss when they've been sneaking off all summer together and that minor fact Teddy told my dad he's dating my sister," Louis said. He glanced up at his two friends Jack Thomas and Paul Smith to see that their faces held far too much disappointment for Louis' liking.

"Merlin, she is my sister you know," he sighed in exasperation.

"Yeah but she's hot," Paul shrugged his shoulders as if that made everything okay.

"No she's not! But even if she was do you really think I'd want to know about it?" Louis asked, shaking his head.

"She's way hot, she's part Veela," Paul muttered to himself.

"Yeah well, it'd be creepy anyway for one of you to go out with Victoire," Louis said.

"So is Dominique free?" Jack asked slyly. Louis groaned in frustration.

"No! None of my sisters are free, okay. Nor shall they ever be to you two. They are off-limits, look here's the on and off-limits line," Louis said, drawing an imaginary line with his finger. " They are so off-limits they are a tiny dot to you," Louis finished and glared up at his two friends. They stared at him for a minute before they burst out laughing.

"They are a dot to you," Paul spluttered out between his hysterical laughing.

"Oh Merlin, we've got to use his sisters again," Jack gasped for breath as he clutched his sides.

"Harumph," Louis glared at the carriage floor and made a mental note to never get riled up again. "I don't know what you two find so funny, I was just doing my brotherly duties," Louis stuck his nose up in the air. This just caused Jack and Paul to laugh even harder; soon they had tears in their eyes.

"Brotherly duties," Paul repeated.

"He's three years younger than Victoire!" Jack finished, raising a hand for Paul to high-five. Louis continued to give them both death stares as Paul smacked his hand against Jack's. Louis spent the rest of the journey in silence as his two supposed friends cackled away.

Al, Heather, Scorpius and Rose stood in a line as they waited for the doors to open, each one of them staring straight ahead for their first glimpse of what Hogwarts was really like. The doors swung open to reveal Al and Rose's uncle Neville. His round face was a light shade of red and he was taking deep breaths. Al guessed he'd forgotten about them – it would be so like uncle Neville to do that. But it was his first year as deputy head so Al wasn't really expecting anything else.

"The firs' years, Professor Longbottom," Hagrid said. Rose started a bit at this, it was going to be really weird calling her uncle Neville Professor Longbottom.

"Thanks Hagrid," Neville smiled at the gigantic man. "All right everyone follow me." He turned on his heel and walked off into the entrance hall. Heather had never seen anything like it. Her shoes tapped over the immense stone floor as she scurried after Professor Longbottom as her eyes took in the multitude of flaming brackets on the wall. They all threw a glowing, flickering light around the hall, yet the glow didn't quite reach the high ceiling that was immersed in darkness. The huge marble staircase glinted in the firelight catching Heather's eye. The white marble steps ascended into the castle and unknown. Hundreds of voices floated to Heather's ears from the large doors to the right as she took in the castle. The whole school was buzzing in anticipation for the sorting hat and feast that were to come.

Professor Longbottom led them to an empty room next to the doors that concealed the rest of the school.

"Right, welcome to Hogwarts!" Professor Longbottom said cheerily (deciding to ignore the slight green hue most of the first years had). "We're about to go into the Great Hall to join the rest of the school, but before you sit down with them we'll have the sorting ceremony. The sorting ceremony is when you get sorted into a house, either: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin. Each of these houses has a grand and noble history that has produce many fine witches and wizards in the past. While you are at Hogwarts your house will become your adopted family. There are separate common rooms for you to relax in, dormitories to sleep in, classes to have and dinners to share with your house. There is also a points system here at Hogwarts as well, you gain points for your house with good behaviour and loose them for any rule breaking," his eyes lingered on Rose and Al. "At the end of the year the house cup will be awarded to the house with the most points. The sorting ceremony will begin in a few minutes so if you want to smarten up now would be the time," Professor Longbottom grinned at them all before sweeping out of the room and into the Great Hall.

Al nervously tried to flatten his unruly hair to no avail while Rose tied her ginger 'Granger hair' into a ponytail in an attempt to control it. Scorpius fiddled with his robes as Heather stood there taking in long deep breaths trying in vain to calm herself down.

"It's just a hat, it's just a hat, it's just a hat," Rose murmured to herself as she paced up and down in front of Heather, Scorpius and Al.

"We'll all be fine. Just relax it's going to happen if we want it to or not, so what's the point in getting worried?" Scorpius asked the little group. He had stopped fiddling with his robes and adopted a 'what will be will be' attitude. If he hadn't, Scorpius thought he might've broken down into hysterics. Professor Longbottom walked back into the room.

"The sorting ceremony is about to start," He said before ushering the students out into the entrance hall. "Okay form a line please," he instructed them. After a lot of shifting about the first years managed something that looked vaguely straight. Professor Longbottom opened the halls that lead into the Great Hall and marched in. The line scurried after him. As the group entered the hall many people gasped as they looked up at the ceiling. The full moon shone down on them as they proceeded through the hall. Four long tables stretched out for nearly the length of the hall, the golden plates and goblets glinted from the light of thousands of candles that hovered above their heads. At the far left hand side the Gryffindors were chatting and laughing raucously, the table next to them was filled with Hufflepuff who were grinning broadly and chatting. The next table belonged to Ravenclaw who were already comparing homework assignments, and the table at the far right hand side of the hall belonged to the Slytherins they chatted among themselves occasionally laughing quietly. At the top of the great hall a fifth table stood. Professor McGonagall peered over her spectacles at the new students entering her school. At her place at the head of the table she had an excellent view at the future prefects, heads and troublemakers.

The first years congregated at the bottom of the house tables in-between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Professor Longbottom flicked his wand and a black, mangy, old hat appeared on top of a battered stool. Rose took a deep breath in as she gazed at the object that would dictate a massive proportion of her life in school. As she continued to stare at the pointed hat the whole hall went entirely silent. A rip near its brim appeared that opened wider and wider until it represented something like a mouth. Then the old hat burst out into song:

_I may be burnt and tatty,_

_But don't judge me by my aesthetic,_

_Put me on your head and see,_

_I'm not at all pathetic,_

_In fact you won't find a better hat than me._

_You can keep your flat cap,_

_Or beanies, bowlers and top hats,_

_And all that other pap,_

_For none have the intelligence of me._

_Let me look inside your head,_

_To see what qualities you possess,_

_And I'll lead you to the right path to tread,_

_Whether it be with Gryffindor,_

_Where those with brave hearts dwell,_

_The house of courage and gallantry,_

_Though the house of mischief may ring a bell._

_Perhaps Hufflepuff will be your route,_

_Where they have loyalty beyond compare,_

_The house of kindness and patience,_

_Who could never be unfair._

_If not, what about Ravenclaw,_

_Where those with sharp minds love a good debate,_

_The house of knowledge and quick wit_

_Ignorance is their only hate._

_Or maybe your road will turn to Slytherin,_

_Who use cunning to keep themselves intact,_

_ The house of ambition and power,_

_And determination which is a lesser known fact._

_So come put me on your noggin,_

_After I end my song,_

_To see which house you belong in,_

_But now I fear I've gone on too long._

The hall erupted with applause as the hat finished and bowed to the four house tables. Professor Longbottom then took a long roll of parchment from his pocket and stood next to the hat.

"When I call your name sit on the stool to be sorted," he said as he reached over to the hat and lifted it off the stool, "Addlington, Heather."

Heather had never felt so nervous in her life as she walked up to the stool on shaking legs. She hesitantly sat down and felt Professor Longbottom place the hat on her head.

"Hmmmm let me see, let me see," a small voice in her ear said. "Definitely not cunning enough to be in Slytherin, not enough academic drive to be in Ravenclaw. So Hufflepuff or Gryffindor seems to be the question. Quite a lot of bravery but your loyalty does out weigh that so it better be HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat shouted the last word to the entire school. The middle table burst out into applause as Heather tripped over to the bench, blushing furiously in the process. She slipped into a seat next to a second year and a fat ghost started up a conversation with her, the pearly ghost never stopped smiling the entire time. Rose, Al and Scorpius clapped for their new friend, though they weren't too enthusiastic seeing as none of them wanted to get into Hufflepuff.

"Brown, Steven."

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat yelled after a moment's deliberation. Steven got up to join the rest of his house and Heather, they cheered loudly as he joined their ranks.

"Cavendale, Basil."

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat shouted as soon as it touched Basil's head. He scurried off to sit next to Steven.

"Cericle, Shauna."

"RAVENCLAW!" Shauna grinned broadly as she walked over to her house.

"Cynth, Lauren."

"SLYTHERIN!" The hat roared. She smiled as she walked over to the end the table as the first Slytherin.

As the rest of the first years got sorted Scorpius found himself getting increasingly nervous, his relaxed state slowly started to disintegrate as the J's began to get sorted. By the time it got to the last L he was willing himself not to puke up.

"Malfoy, Scorpius."

Scorpius walked forward trembling like a leaf. Mutters followed him up to the stool.

"Malfoy, as in the Malfoys?"

"Bet he'll be in Slytherin just like his death eater family."

Scorpius swallowed as Professor Longbottom placed the hat on his head, obscuring his eyes.

"Ah, another Malfoy it better be SLY-" The hat stopped half way through its shout, causing whispers to echo around the hall.

"But you're not like them are you? No you've got a good brain worthy of Ravenclaw but bravery as well, and Merlin knows you're going to need that standing up to your Grandfather. And what have we here? A little talent for trouble well now there's no doubt, you'd better be in GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted to the silent hall. Scorpius felt a huge grin form on his face as he leapt off the stool. He didn't receive any applause at first as the whole school tried to figure out how it was even possible for a Malfoy to be a Gryffindor, it had never happened. Slowly the Gryffindor table started clapping and before Scorpius knew what was happening they were roaring their approval. Scorpius slipped into the seat next to Marcus. He grinned broadly, feeling immensely relieved. Al and Rose clapped and whistled for Scorpius, Rose now had proof she was right not to judge him. Heather joined in the applause as well, even though she was a bit rueful of the hats choice.

The hall settled down and the sorting continued; now it was Al's turn to feel the pressure. As Mary Philips was called up Al turned a vibrant shade of green.

"Potter, Albus."

Al stumbled up to the hat and just like with Scorpius whispers followed him, but of a different tone.

"So he's Harry Potters son."

"Aw he looks exactly like Harry, cute!"

Al rolled his eyes at the last comment, he always thought people like that were such idiots but after eleven years of it he wasn't that bothered anymore. He sat down on the stool as the hat slipped onto his head. **_Anything but Slytherin, Anything but Slytherin. _**Al repeated in his head before the sorting hat could say anything. He heard it chuckle in his ear.

"Stop worrying, you wouldn't be suited to Slytherin anyway," the hat reassured him. "Now I don't think you'd do well in Ravenclaw, I have a feeling you'll be spending too much time in detention to focus on your studies. Hufflepuff could be an option; you are loyal. However you have definitely inherited your father's courage. Yes the right house for you is GRYFFINDOR!" Al beamed as Neville lifted off the hat. He almost floated down to the Gryffindor table. The Gryffindors clapped and whooped as Al sat down opposite Marcus, grinning at Scorpius as they high-fived each other across the table.

"Knew I'd see you here!" James shouted down the table at Al. Al just gave James a sceptical look in reply.

Rose cheered for Al as he walked to the Gryffindor table. But now she was left by herself, which definitely didn't help her nerves. She stared to pick at her robes as the sorting processed at a ridiculously fast speed. How were they already on the Ts? She took deep calming breaths.

"Weasley, Rose."

Rose wobbled up to the stool and for the third time whispers spread across the hall.

"How many Weasleys are there?"

"She's the daughter of Ron and Hermione right? Bet she's clever."

Rose bit here lip nervously as the hat was lowered over her eyes.

"Another Weasley, you lot breed like rabbits! Right, Ravenclaw or Gryffindor? You've got your mother's mind but both of their bravery. Oh a bit of your uncle George in there as well I see, the third mischief-maker today! Well you'll all get along famously, so it will be GRYFFINDOR!" Rose skipped over to the Gryffindor table as the house cheered deafeningly. She grinned at her family as she slid into the seat opposite Scorpius.

The sorting ceremony finished with Sue Ying and Professor Longbottom rolled up the scroll of parchment and vanished the hat and stool. Professor McGonagall rose to her feet and surveyed the school.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts. I'm sure you'll find this year just as exciting and challenging! But for now you need replenishing!" She said. The hall clapped as she sat back down again. It stopped quickly as the food appeared on the plates. The school quickly dug in. As Rose was biting into a chicken leg the ghost with a ruff floated down to the Gryffindor first years.

"Congratulations on getting into Gryffindor!" he smiled merrily. "I'm the Gryffindor house ghost: Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service."

"Hang on, aren't you Nearly Headless Nick? My mum told me about you," Kevin Patil said.

"Some call me that, but I really prefer my title Sir Nich-"

"How can you be nearly headless?" Sarah Flanagan asked. Nearly Headless Nick sighed deeply. He grabbed his ear and pulled on it causing his head to part with his neck. However a small layer of skin and sinews kept his head from completely leaving his body. Rose felt slightly sick looking at the severed bone and muscles on his neck. Nearly Headless Nick pushed his head back onto his neck and readjusted his ruff.

"You have no idea how many times I've had to do that," he sighed. "But as I was saying, welcome to Gryffindor! If you need any help just look for me and try your hardest to win house points so we can get the cup again!" he smiled at them again before gliding off to talk to Victoire.

"Well that was … interesting," Rose said. The rest of the feast past uneventfully as they stuffed themselves on the delectable cooking. Eventually the food vanished from the plates and Professor McGonagall stood up again.

"I hope you enjoyed the feast but now is the time for the start-of-term notices. Firstly Mr Filch has reminded me to tell you that no magic is to be used in the corridors and the sizeable list of banned objects are available to see on his door. Also no one is allowed in the Forbidden Forest, it's got that name for a reason! Lastly if anyone from second year and up would like to try out for the Quidditch team speak to your head of house to put your name down for it. But now your beds await, first years follow your house's prefects," Professor McGonagall finished. Chatter filled the air as everyone got up to head to their dormitories. The Gryffindor first years stood up and waited as the prefects came over to herd them up to the common room. They climbed up the marble staircase in the entrance hall and through sliding panels as well as staircases that couldn't decide where they wanted to stay. Nobody took much notice of all this as they dragged their feet up the path to the common room. Finally the group reached a painting of a slightly obese woman in a pink dress.

"Password?" She asked.

"Rugiet Leo," one of the prefects answered confidently. The painting bowed her head and swung open revealing a cosy round room with a roaring fire and comfy furniture, all of which were scarlet.

"Girls dormitories are to the left and boys are to the right," a prefect informed them. The first years dragged themselves up to their correct dormitories after saying a sleepy goodnight to the other gender. They found their beds and changed out of their robes in a daze. Every single one of them fell asleep the moment their head touched the pillow.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry I've messed around with this chapter a lot after i uploaded it - but honestly there was a plot reason for doing so, as you will find out after what promises to be quite a long time at the rate my writings going :/**

**But anyway, hope you like it :) if you like it or loathe it just type your opinion into that little box and I'll work on any suggestions! Also if i've gone on way too much (i've written over 14,000 words for one day!) please tell me because i have a nagging worry that i have.**

**Special thanks to LittleSniget and Onginal mazz for reviewing 3 also another huge thank you to Onginal mazz yet again for helping me out with the sorting hat song and reading it through and pointing out my mistakes love you :)**

**Also songs, letters or notes will be **_written like this_

**Lastly i'm not sure how consistently i'm going to be updating with the work that my teacher are so lovingly going to drown me in, so until that settles down i'll say goodbye for now!**

**-that lass xxx**


	4. Ice, Teddies and Tartan

The Chances Of That

Ice, Teddies and Tartan

Fred's alarm clock rung violently, squealing to get some kind of reaction, on his bedside table. Yawning to himself Fred stretched his arm out of the drapes and grabbed the vibrating clock, he flicked the alarm off and groaned.

James was insane for making them get up this early. Even if they had to 'strike while the iron was hot' or 'make up for last year' or whatever other ridiculous ideas had somehow manifested themselves into James' brain. Fred groaned again and rolled out of bed landing with a thump on the red carpet. Remembering that he actually had to stand on his legs to get up instead of just rolling on the floor, he pushed himself up and scanned the room. With bleary eyes, he squinted into the blinding morning sunlight that was streaming in through the tower windows. He sighed exasperatedly when he saw that James and Marcus were still enjoying their precious sleep. Shaking his head he walked into the small bathroom – tripping over robes that had already started littering the floor – and turned the tap on.

He leant over the sink as he ran through the plan for today and came to the conclusion that James should definitely look to see if there were any vacancies in St Mungo's. They could help him with his insanity. Then again Fred might go to get checked out as well for even agreeing and encouraging James; surely he'd only do that if he was crazy!

Fred splashed water onto his face from the full sink and turned the tap off. After he'd efficiently woken himself up with the freezing water he stretched out and looked in the mirror in front of him. A lanky boy peered back at Fred. The boy's bright ginger hair was plastered to his forehead, water droplets dripping off his hair to leave tracks down slightly tanned, yet freckled face. His blue eyes twinkled with an air of mischief that could never quite leave them – no matter how innocent he tried to look. His hand reached up to tousle his hair and his lips split into a toothy grin as he smiled to himself. Fred mussed up his hair again in his effort to look more handsome as his friends did. He always felt as if he never quite measured up to the other two's standards in that aspect, not when their little fan club trailed after the trio giggling when Marcus or James so much as glanced at them. Marcus' perfect and neat look was as big of a hit with the ladies as James' carelessly handsome one. Fred sighed, he wasn't particularly jealous of the other two but on occasion it might be nice to get a little bit of attention from the opposite sex. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it of his negative thoughts, and exited the bathroom.

He scooped up his uniform from the floor and hastily climbed into it. He glanced at his shrill clock. If Marcus and James didn't wake up soon they may as well kiss their plan goodbye, and he didn't get up at that ridiculous hour for nothing! He reached for his wand and summoned both their quilts (looking into their cousin's textbooks in the summer was always useful for Fred and James, and Louis' help didn't go amiss either). Marcus and James simultaneously scrunched up into a ball, groaning as the cold air hit them. Fred smirked at them, but the smirk soon dropped off his face as the two duvets collided into him, smothering him with their feathery goodness. He dumped the duvets on the floor and turned to glare at his sniggering mates.

"H'way get off your lazy arses," Fred said as he turned to the lone floor length mirror in the room and started to correct his haphazard uniform so he looked vaguely respectable.

"H'way?" Marcus asked groggily as he clambered out of his bed.

"Picked it up in Newcastle," Fred shrugged. After spending a few weeks in Newcastle it was proving difficult to stop any 'ganin's or 'hinny pet's slipping out. Marcus rolled his eyes at Fred and headed to the bathroom for what Fred knew from experience was going to be long while.

Meanwhile James was still curled up in bed with his eyes closed, resolutely refusing to get up so early in the morning - even if it was his idea. It was still against all his morals and he was sure it was some infringement of his human rights. Fred was well used to his cousin's morning phobia, so had a few ideas of how to get him up. Fred walked up to James' bed and cleared his throat.

"James darling, I've got a special surprise for you," Fred said in the best high-pitched and seductive voice he could muster. James bolted up immediately and began looking for the source of the alluring voice. His eyes landed on Fred, standing at the head of his bed shaking in silent hysterics as he looked at his cousin's expectant face.

"One day I will kill you," James said in a deadly serious voice as he narrowed his eyes at Fred. Fred simply smiled at James before darting out of James reach just in case.

"But not this day. Come on, get up or we'll be late for your master plan to take effect," Fred leaned forward to prod James in the stomach.

"You're planning this too you know," James grumbled as he slid off his bed.

"True but I'm not as enthusiastic as you and didn't make all of us get up at half five," Fred countered. James stuck his tongue out at his cousin, being the definition of maturity as he undoubtedly was.

"Yeah, well at least I'm not...annoying," James countered, causing Fred to burst out laughing.

"At least I'm not mentally challenged like you, eh James," Fred grinned. James made a face at his cousin as he threw on his uniform. Marcus appeared from the bathroom a few minutes later, his uniform perfect and his hair meticulous. He smiled at the two as Fred lounged against his bed and James had his head, bent fighting off sleep, and picked up his pre-packed bag from the floor.

"Eurgh, are you actually going to take a bag with school work," James grimaced with disgust at the very thought of work. Marcus just shook his head at James in mock disapprovement.

"Ah, young grasshopper you have a lot to learn from the wise owl," Marcus said sagely. "And detention are better served for pranks than for homework," he added with a wink, which somewhat ruined the illusion of his wisdom and caused them all to burst out laughing.

"Shhh, you'll wake them," Fred gave a pointed look to Danny and Luke their other dorm mates. All Fred received were sceptical looks from James and Marcus. It would probably take at least an earthquake to wake those two up after sharing the dorm with the three boys all last year.

"Yes and I'm sure Godric Gryffindor will rise from the dead at the same time," James said sarcastically. "Skipping over Fred's stupid comment, are we ready for today men?" James asked, changing into his 'military mode' as Fred liked to call it.

"Yes, sir," Fred and Marcus replied in unison, standing to attention immediately.

"Good now remember the formations soldiers!" James commanded.

"Yes sir," Marcus and Fred saluted. James nodded seriously at them before marching out the room. Fred and Marcus glanced at each other and started laughing, after nearly a year of taking the piss with their salutes you would've thought James would've worked out it was a joke.

"Should we catch up with Sergeant Potter then?" Marcus asked, his eyes dancing with mirth.

"I concur with that commander Pense," Fred struggled to keep a straight face.

"Tally ho then my good man," Marcus marched out the room after James, his bag swinging wildly from his shoulder. Fred grinned to himself, although Marcus was the most resevered out of the three he had the best wit. Fred scanned the room looking for anything they'd forgotten, his eyes spotted James wand lying on his bed. Shaking his head Fred grabbed his forgetful cousin's wand and hurried down stairs.

After Fred had caught up with the other two and tossed James his wand they all headed into the Great Hall. Fred sat down facing his two partners in crime. The Hall was completely deserted – not surprisingly as it was the first day of school and nobody was stupid enough to get up at the crack of dawn. As the trio began shovelling food onto their plates, they discussed their master plan.

"So are you two actually going to try in lessons this year?" Marcus asked between mouthfuls of bacon. James and Fred raised their eyebrows cynically as they started attacking their food.

"How the hell you passed last years tests I'll never know," Marcus shook his head at his friends.

"We're just naturally gifted that way, unlike you we don't need to spend all our time in a stuffy library with that ugly hag they call a Liberian," James grinned at Marcus.

"Nah, your just 'special' James, in a way we can't hope to understand," Fred said patronisingly. "As for me, it's just because I'm so unimaginably brilliant that the tests just wrote themselves as they were overwhelmed by my general awesomeness." Fred leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest with a smug smirk, only to receive several bacon strips to the face. Fred simply plopped the bacon in his mouth, chewing lazily as he grinned at his two amused friends.

"I know the truth hurts, but you don't have to take it out on me so violently," Fred said, winking at them. James and Marcus rolled their eyes simultaneously, they were used to Fred's teasing banter.

"Anywho, skipping over Fred's huge ego, what've you been up to Marcus? We only saw you about thirty times over the holidays," James asked ignoring Fred's 'oi' of protest.

"Like you can talk about big egos James Potter," Marcus laughed. "Well I don't think I told you what happened with Trevor – my brother – over the holidays." Marcus said. Marcus regaled his brother's misdemeanours over the holidays that had them all laughing and occasionally choking on toast as they stuffed themselves to bursting point.

"And then she found Trevor in her cupboard!" They all laughed raucously as Marcus finished his tale.

"Ah, I really need to talk to your brother more," Fred wiped some tears away as he continued to chuckle. James was sniggering until he stopped abruptly, looking at his small watch.

"Shit, c'mon we've got to get into position or people will see us. Move it you two!" James said as he lurched up from the table.

"Says mister I-can't-get-up-without-a-lady-friend," Fred smiled slyly at James who suddenly started to look slightly hot and bothered.

"Do I even want to ask?" Marcus said as he and Fred stood up.

"NO! Definitely not, nothing happened when Fred tried to wake me up. Nothing at all. Why would you imply something like that Marcus?" James all but sprinted out of the hall, effectively cutting off his flustered ramblings.

"I'm getting a slight feeling that James might be a tad embarrassed, but then again he never makes his feelings ridiculously obvious or anything," Marcus said sarcastically. Fred sniggered as they strode out of the door to the classroom Rose, Al, Scorpius and Heather had been waiting in the night before. James was sitting on a desk with his wand out as Fred and Marcus entered. They watched as James moved his wand and muttered the words "_occulto in glaciem"._A light blue jet shot out the end of James' wand and hit the ground. Immediately ice started covering the floor, spreading around until the area in front of James was completely coated in ice.

"Wicked," Fred said, a wide grin on his face. Marcus however shifted uncomfortably, his lips turned down slightly. He wasn't really that eager to get into trouble on the first day of lessons.

Rose's eyes fluttered open as she stretched out her stiff arms. It took her a moment to get her bearings as she stared at the curtains around her bed. After a minute she realised that no, she wasn't abducted and taken away from her family, she was at Hogwarts after years of dreaming and waiting her time was finally here. Yet she wasn't too thrilled about it as she thought she would've been. It felt like something was missing, something that came with either a freckled face or a mane of bushy hair. Homesickness hit her like a bludger to the face – she had experience in the bludger department and it really wasn't pretty. A small tear slipped out from her eye as her throat clogged up. Luckily there was a small bit of home available a few metres away, a bit which happened to have bright green eyes and black messy hair. She wiped the tear from her cheek as she swung herself out of bed. She took a deep breath in and tied up her in an attempt to tame her infamous Granger hair before slipping out of the room as her dorm mates slept peacefully in the growing light.

She padded up the stone steps to the boy's first year dorms, passing James who marched by her - oblivious to her presence. She only pondered James' rare morning activity for a moment; the tight knot in her stomach was tightening rapidly. She pushed open the first door she came to.

"Al, where are you?" She whispered, her voice carrying over the rumbling snores of the other boys. Someone grunted at the far side of the room and rolled over. Rose tip toed over to the bed to find Al's porcupine like hair sticking out from underneath his duvet. Rose climbed into his bed like she had done when they were small and gently nudged him. His eyes drifted open and he only registered the sheer amount of redness before him.

"What's up Rose?" He yawned, as he tried his best to focus on her.

"I miss them," Rose's voice hitched as she looked down at her hands. Al sighed and pulled her into a hug.

"I know Rose, but it'll get better. You'll see once we get settled in and make new friends that you won't have time to be homesick Rosie," he rubbed her back as Rose smiled. She could've sworn that Al was a legilimens; he always knew how to cheer her up. A blonde figure on the bed next to Al stirred and blearily scanned the room before hi eyes rested on Al's bed to see Rose's fiery red hair sprawled across the pillow – mere hair bobbles couldn't contain it for long.

"You forgot about the amount of detentions we'll be getting to take up our time," Rose grinned at Al who rolled his eyes.

"I'm still holding onto the hope that you'll actually behave, or at least get better timing – seriously every adult seems to pick the exact wrong moment to walk into one of your pranks," Rose laughed at Al, knowing he was definitely speaking from experience.

"Good morning," Scorpius politely said to Rose and Al as he sat up in bed, still trying to get the sleep out of his eyes.

"Morning Scorpius," Rose grinned at him. He smiled back at her as he stretched his arms out in front of him.

"Is that a teddy?" Rose asked incredulously as he eyes zoned in on the fluffy brown bear Scorpius was clutching in his hands. Scorpius quickly stuffed the bear down his bed as the skin near his cheekbones turned pink.

"No," he said as his eyes darted around the room, looking anywhere except Rose and Al.

"I've got an animal too you know," Al said. Al reached underneath his pillow and drew out a small fluffy cat. "He's called Marty, my sister gave him to me a few weeks before we came to Hogwarts. She's got a bit of a fetish for cats." Al and Scorpius grinned at each other. Rose just rolled her eyes; slightly amused how the two of them were somehow bonding over cuddly toys.

"So what's he called?" Al asked Scorpius as Scorpius pulled out his teddy from the depths of the blanket.

"Brown Bear, I was such an inventive child," Rose and Al laughed at Scorpius amazing naming abilities before Al and Scorpius were engrossed into the world of stuffed animals.

"Right, I'm going to go get changed, I'll meet you two down in the common room in half an hour okay?" Rose asked as she moved towards the door. They both nodded before going back into their heated discussion of the best way to cuddle a teddy. Rose shook her head at their complete and utter unmanliness as she headed down the staircase.

The three of them met at the common room before walking out to the great hall.

"So what do you think any of the professors will be cruel enough to set us homework on the first day?" Scorpius asked, thankfully the teddy conversation had been dropped or Rose would've gone spare.

"I wouldn't put it past McGonagall," Rose sighed.

"True but at least Neville won't give us any," Al said.

"True the nev-myster isn't vindictive enough to give us such torturous homework," Rose grinned as Scorpius burst out laughing.

"Seriously? The nev-myster?" Scorpius asked.

"What can I say I make up the best nicknames the world has ever seen," Rose lifted her head up in the air and puffed out her chest. "I'm just the best like that," she added with a wink.

"And just as brilliantly modest as well," Al smirked as Rose slapped him playfully on the arm.

"Run along and go play with Marty," Al pulled his most piteous and hurt expression on as he stared at his cousin. Rose just laughed at him, the amount of times he'd tried to use that face on her … she's lost count after a hundred and twenty.

"Well I hate to break up the family banter, but does anyone know where the hell we are?" Scorpius asked as he peered down yet another corridor. "I swear we've passed this statue twice," he pointed at the statue of a one eyed witch.

"Let's just try going down a few stairs and see where it leads us," Rose said flippantly before she turned to skip off down a random hallway.

"Is she always this optimistic?" Scorpius turned his bewildered stare onto Al who merely chuckled, thinking about that very morning.

"Definitely not," he answered before following Rose, her hit or miss strategy was probably their best chance.

Rose, Scorpius and Al stumbled into the Great Hall twenty minuets later; all of them were slightly red in the face.

"That is the last time I am ever getting lost with you Rose, how the hell did we end up in the dungeons?" Scorpius panted as the three of them made their way to the Gryffindor table.

"I think it's more like how the hell we ended up getting chased by Filch up at least ten flights of stairs? Surely it's not physically possible for that man to even be alive never mind sprinting after us like a freaking mad man," Al sighed heavily as he sat down on the bench.

"Also why did he even start chasing us in the first place?" Scorpius tilted his head to the side as he looked at Rose's flushed face.

"Well it's not my fault I tripped over into the suit of armour, it moved in front of me for Merlin's sake, and it's not like I told Peeves to come and dump a load of dungbombs on us or Filch to come at the exact wrong moment," Rose explained, puffing a strand of hair out of her face.

"You really do have terrible luck," Scorpius chuckled quietly. "And here I was thinking you were exaggerating it until I got hit with it at full force."

"It's never been this bad before, maybe my bad luck just wanted to give me a moral boost before my first lessons," Rose smirked slightly as she reached over for some toast.

"I'm just really grateful you came in so early, imagine what would've happened if we'd gotten up any later," Al looked at the small watch on his wrist.

"Damn, pass down the cereal please," Scorpius called to a third-year Gryffindor. After making a face at Scorpius she chucked the cereal down to him so the contents scatter all over the tabletop.

"Sorry," She said, sneering at Scorpius as he hastily poured some of the muesli into a bowl.

"No problem," Scorpius muttered, pushing the spilt cereal into a small pile. Rose and Al stared at him; identical frowns contorted their foreheads.

"Em Scorpius, what was that?" Rose asked, causing Al to face palm at his cousin's lack of subtlety.

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm sure it was just an accident," Scorpius shrugged. "Do you know what we'll be having for our first lesson?" Scorpius asked in a painfully obvious subject change.

"No idea, we need to get our timetables handed out first. And that definitely didn't look like nothing," Rose raised an eyebrow at Scorpius.

"It's nothing, a few people don't particularly like me that's all," Scorpius shrugged again.

"Have you ever spoken to that girl?" Rose's eyebrow was slowly creeping up her temple.

"Honestly, no I haven't," Scorpius stared down at the table.

"Yet she threw cereal at you," Rose said slowly.

"Well I kind of asked for the cereal. But it's nothing, really. I'm a Malfoy and she'd almost certainly have every right to through the whole table at my face after what my granddad or ancestors or whatever probably did to her family." Scorpius said with a sigh, hoping Rose would finish her questioning.

"But she doesn't even know you," Rose's frown deepened.

"That doesn't matter though does it? I'm a Malfoy and my family used to run along with Voldemort doing their dark magic and generally being horrible dicks to everyone. That's the way it's been for centuries, so why would people think I'm different? They think I'm just the next pure blood loving git whose going to start killing every muggle born. And you know what, I actually understand where they're coming from. If some physco tortured and murdered my family for something so stupid and petty as blood status I'd hate anyone with their name or their looks," Scorpius said, thinking that if he got it out of the way now Rose would probably drop it. He rested his head in his hand as he faced away from Al and Rose. He really shouldn't have ranted like that, now they were probably going to run away screaming as he'd just reminded them of his murderous family.

"Me and Rose don't hate you," Al said quietly, his green eyes catching Scorpius' grey ones. Scorpius smiled at them.

"True, but then again your parents probably haven't told you about their trip to Malfoy Manor," Scorpius sighed wearily. Al and Rose shared a look, their parents didn't hide the war from them, but it didn't mean they liked to talk about it. "You know, lessons haven't even started yet and we've already: got lost, been chased round the castle by a mad man and I've had a rant about my family," Scorpius shook his head faintly.

"Cheer up Scor we've still got the rest of the day to screw up," Rose said brightly, eliciting a small chuckle from Al and Scorpius.

"True. Hang on, Scor?" he asked. Rose just shrugged though a small blush crept up her cheeks. It'd just slipped out accidentally.

"What can I say, I make up the best nicknames," The three of them burst out laughing before turning back to their respective breakfasts. The bond between the three of them was already forming after a day.

After the nev-myster had the three young Gryffindors their timetables they set off for their first lesson of charms. However they found the doors to the Entrance Hall blocked by a sea of students. The three of them pushed their way through the huddle to find a huge ice rink. A few students were flailing around ice in a valiant attempt to get to class. A smirk broke spread across Rose's face as she looked back at the pile on that was blocking the exit and the mayhem on the ice as a fifth year collided with the beginning of the banister. Suddenly the mass of people surged forward as the rest of Hogwarts tried to get out of the hall so Rose, Al and Scorpius were sent skidding onto the ice. Rose shrieked as she slid across the entrance hall but a hand caught her arm effectively stabilizing her though the hand was shaking with the laughter she could hear behind her.

"I have to frighten you if you scream like that," Scorpius chuckled. Rose stuck her tongue out at him and tried to skate away. However much to Scorpius' amusement her feet slipped out from her causing her to scream again as she fell over, luckily Scorpius caught her again before she could make contact with the freezing floor.

"Don't," Rose grumbled without looking at Scorpius as she disentangled herself from Scorpius' arms. Scorpius grinned and pretended to zip up his mouth.

"Hey guys, a bit of help here if you don't mind!" Al called over to them as he attempted to walk over to them that just resulted in a cold backside. Scorpius was now clutching at his sides as he bent over in renewed laughter as Rose leaned on him laughing at her unfortunate cousin. Taking pity on Al, Scorpius shuffled over to him and gave him a hand to help him up. Al however had other ideas and soon Scorpius was on the ice next to Al. A play fight started up almost immediately afterwards as the pair of them rolled around on the icy ground. Rose rolled her eyes at them before scanning the entrance hall for her cousins and Marcus who were predictably behind this escapade. She saw them all giggling near the top of the stairs, just out of reach of the mayhem they'd created. The entrance hall was filling up with more people as the crowd surged out of the Great Hall leaving many hapless victims sprawled across the ice. Rose had to appreciate how they'd sent the entire school into chaos on the first day back; it was waking everyone up for the fresh school year at the most exuberant level. Rose felt two hands press down on her shoulders, she swivelled her head round – careful not to move her feet – to see who was there. Scorpius and Al had one hand each on her shoulders as they grinned down at her.

"Fell over again yet?" Al asked sweetly. Rose elbowed his side in reply.

"No I haven't. But I've thought of something much more entertaining to do then watch me fall over surprisingly," Rose said. Al and Scorpius raised their eyebrows doubtfully. "Our dear cousins are right over there and you're going to pass on this once in a lifetime opportunity to laugh at me falling on my arse," Rose said.

"Carry on," Scorpius said, grinning at her.

"Well I don't think it'd be such a tragedy if they were to slip down here to join the fun," Rose smiled in a faux innocent way as Al and Scorpius chuckled at her antics. "Just copy me," Rose shuffled along to the bottom of the staircase with the help of Scorpius and Al who were slightly better at the whole balancing malarkey than she was.

"OI JAMES!" Rose shouted up the stairs. Three cheeky faces appeared at the top and grinned down at her.

"Yes my darling cousin, what would you like on this beautiful morning?" James asked.

"Oh nothing in particular, just wanted to say _trinus_," Rose pointed her wand at James who promptly fell flat on his face and slid down the icy slide that was the stairs.

"_trinus_," Al and Scorpius said as they pointed their own wands at Fred and Marcus. The three of them skidded down the ramp and proceeded to bowl over almost all of the 'skaters'. Rose, Al and Scorpius were bent over in laughter, tears streaming down their faces.

"POTTERS! WEASLEYS!" McGonagall's screech filled the hall. The six mischief makers looked at each other as the impending doom slid nearer and nearer.

"Oh crap," Rose whispered as McGonagall's tartan wrath skidded up to them.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the huge delay, my schedules pretty hectic at the moment with my school's production of Grease, taking on an extra courses and whatnot so I probably won't be updating on a regular timetable!**

**Also t****here's been a few changes in the story. first of - which if you haven't seen the updated chapter 3 you might get confused with later on - Heather is now in Hufflepuff. Reasons for which will become apparent later on if i keep with the story line, it's not just because i felt like confucing you I promise! Secondly I've decided to not to do so many character's story lines because it was way to confusing! so after this fic i'll get on to a Molly, Dominique etc. centred one as this is focused on Al, Rose, Scorpius, Marcus, Fred and James from now on! but looking on the bright side at least you've gotten a sneaky peak at the characters for my next fic! Also I'm terrible at writing the passage of time as i feel the need to describe everything, so please just bear with me while I try and get the hang of it! Lastly I know that I've probably put in too many pranks, i just couldn't get the ice rink idea out of my head! So there's going to be a bit of a lull in such huge scale mischief, only the odd enchanted quill on a smaller scale here or there for a bit.**

**Special thanks to Sheened for reviewing! And once again to Onginal Mazz for the support and reading through again! Also just like to mention a thank you to everyone who has read/ is reading! I've had 401 views, though it may not seem like much to most people, the fact that all of you have read my ramblings of an attempt at a story that I came up with in my bedroom singing along to Jon Cozart and Ed Sheeran means a lot. so thank you.**

**Sorry for the extremely long author's note! Enjoy and remember to review - all opinions are welcome and will be worked on!**

**- that lass xxx**


	5. First Days, Respect and Maurice

The Chances Of That

First Days, Respect and Maurice

Marcus sighed to himself as he walked silently along with his head down. They hadn't even started lessons and already he was getting marched to the headmistress's office. To think he had planned to do a bit more studying this year, well it seemed Fred and James weren't going to let him do any of that! He could hear the pair of them recounting the prank, laughing as they remembered the bedlam they'd all created. Marcus wasn't generally that fussed about getting into trouble – the amount of times he'd been in detention for some prank or other made his mother cringe at the very thought – he'd taken part in the train prank and he'd even helped plan and execute this prank, but getting caught on the very first day and dragging in three first years was a bit too extreme for Marcus, especially after the lecture he'd received in the holidays. He shook his head at how his parents would react when they found their presumably perfect little diddums had landed himself in yet another detention. Someone prodded Marcus in the back; peering over his shoulder he saw the face of Al Potter grinning up at him. Marcus smiled back Al's cheeky grin.

"Hello there Mr Mopey, are you going to tell uncle Al what's wrong or keep looking like a bird just pooped on your face?" Marcus laughed at Al's antics but ignored his question, preferring not to get into his family's issues with him.

"So are you going to tell me how you ended up in this mess? Because one second I was standing laughing my bum off and the next I was sprawled on the floor getting laughed at by three eleven-year olds." Marcus raised an eyebrow at Al who's grin just broadened.

"Ah yes, that particular idea could've only been created by Rose. The perfect combination of hilarity and crappy timing." Al looked over to Rose who was chatting with Scorpius and shook his head fondly. "I'm not even going to bother telling you what a mess she got us in before your prank, you wouldn't believe me!" Marcus laughed, from the time he'd spent at the Weasley/Potter's over the summer he knew all about Rose's luck. They continued walking along together amiably as McGonagall's office loomed nearer. Al exhaled deeply much like Marcus had done a few minutes ago as the Gargoyle reached his line of sight.

"What's up Al?" Marcus asked as he frowned at Al. Marcus had never seen Al anything but happy, but he was probably the first person to know that you should never judge by expectations.

"The sky." Al answered with a half-hearted attempt at a grin. Marcus just tilted his head slightly as he expectantly looked at Al. "Fine, I just didn't really want my first day at Hogwarts to go like this. I know it was inevitable that I'd be landed in a detention with Rose as my cousin and James as my brother, but I wish it was a little later than the first day. Do you know what I mean?" Al's eyes flickered up to meet Marcus's.

"I felt the same when your idiot Brother and Cousin landed me in detention within the first twenty four hours of being in Hogwarts, but in the long run it doesn't matter too much and McGonagall always goes easy in the first week." Marcus smiled warmly at Al as he remembered his horrendous first day.

"You got detention on your first day?" Al asked incredulously. "I can't imagine you ever being corrupted so much in your first year."

"I was a nice, polite young gentleman before your family forced their madness onto me." Marcus laughed.

"Well at least you still dress like a gentleman," Al looked pointedly at Marcus's perfect uniform and hair. Marcus shrugged.

"I had to keep some vestiges of my more innocent life before Hogwarts." Marcus grinned as they stopped in front of the gargoyle.

"Why hello there Gargo, how are you doing old chum?" Fred asked the gargoyle

"Mr Weasley if you insist on keeping up this ludicrous charade up at least think of a better name for Merlin's sake," The Gargoyle sighed.

"I think Edwin suits him," James piped up.

"I dunno, he looks more like a Clarence," Marcus joined in. Teasing the snobbish Gargoyle was actually more entertaining then he'd first thought.

"What about Ernest?" Rose said.

"Nah, it's something like Herman," Al smirked; his previous worries had flown out the window.

"Julius?" Scorpius hesitantly added.

"Maybe, but Maurice just seem to fit you like a glove bro," Fred grinned up at the statue.

"Why do I even bother?" The Gargoyle groaned.

"Caithness," McGonagall said the password curtly before another round of guess the gargoyle's name could commence. The group fell silent as they trooped up the stairs deliberately not looking at the smug gargoyle. As they filed into the circular office, the three first years' undeniable guilt was plastered on their faces. The group walked over to the tartan-covered chairs facing the large, clean desk with a small tin of ginger newts reserved for when McGonagall was really out of her depth. The headmistress swept over to her straight back chair and sat down eyeing her students with a glare terrifying enough to make Voldemort tremble in his grave.

"Sit. Now." McGonagall ordered her lips pressed so tightly together Marcus wondered if she was going to eat them.

"Ah if it isn't Potter and Weasley again," a voice drawled from a portrait. "It seems that the arrogance of the Potters will never die." The portrait sighed causing the greasy black hair to flutter slightly.

"Severus you have yet to let go of your old grudge after all these years, you must learn to let go of old grudges after all this time," The portrait behind Professor McGonagall shook his head wearily. His bright blue eyes surveying the dark man in the portrait next to him behind his half moon spectacles.

"Albus even you cannot deny that this … spawn is an arrogant twit like his grandfather," Severus Snape pointed his finger at James - who was lounging in his chair ruffling his hair as if he couldn't hear Snape – in indignation. Albus Dumbledore simply chuckled.

"Ah my dear Severus, sometimes you are blinded by your hatred to see the good qualities in a Potter. I myself know that Mr Potter here has many more merits then his ego after our many delightful encounters. Though I do have to comment it may be more prudent if they didn't happen so often or you you young man will end up giving Ginny a heart attack," Dumbledore smiled down at James with a twinkle in those fathomless blue eyes of his. James grinned cheekily up at his father's old mentor deciding that Dumbledore was worth listening to or at least not pretending to ignore.

"Hang on a second Albus and Severus. You don't mean that …" Al trailed off as he finally clicked that his two namesakes were arguing amongst themselves.

"Wow Al, your so clever I would never of guessed that these two men who have the exact same name and are both in headmaster's portraits would be your namesake. I mean Albus and Severus are pretty common names. And I'm pretty sure they were the heads of Durmstrang not Hogwarts," James said sarcastically. "How unforgivably dumb of me." James gave his younger brother a smirk before grinning at Fred, who just shook his head at him - trying to fight off a small smile that was curling the edges of his mouth.

"James, do the world a favour and keep that flytrap closed," Al said as James' eyes narrowed slight at Al, trying to set him alight with his mind. A small chuckle interrupted James' concentration.

"Even after all these years Harry still brings a tear to my eye," Dumbledore said as he wiped the errant tear away from his eye.

"Potter actually named his child after me?" Snape asked incredulously, only a slight hint of his true delight at this tinged his voice.

"Yes, Severus," McGonagall cut in sharply. "Now if you're quite finished your mothers meeting I'd like to get on with this." Marcus could almost see McGonagall bristling as she reached the end of her tether.

"But Minnie, you know that you love our witty banter," James smirked at McGonagall who was starting to tremble with rage. Everyone in the office shrank back as McGonagall straightened up and glared down at the six of them. It really wasn't pretty when McGonagall lost her rage.

"Mr Potter, if you would be so kind as to shut your mouth now I would be extremely grateful," McGonagall snapped, before taking in a deep breath so her torrent of ranting could begin. "What in Merlin's name were you thinking? Do you even think about anyone but yourselves at all? You even got first-years involved! I didn't think you could sink so low, but you three never fail to surprise me. Professor Slughorn has now got a dislocated knee and no Mr Potter that is not funny!" Marcus wouldn't be surprised if McGonagall started breathing fire at this point as glowered at James who promptly stopped sniggering. "The train incident I'll have to overlook as there was no official staff to bear witness to that particular prank, unfortunately"

"You know you just love us too much Minnie to really punish us," Fred whispered under his breath. Unluckily for him McGonagall had the hearing of a bat.

"Fredrick Weasley! How dare you interrupt me with your insolent comments! Your family and friends are now facing weeks of detention and it's almost entirely your fault! If you step another toe out of line for the next month, I'll write to your mother! Oh I almost forgot – Scorpius well done on getting into Gryffindor and eventually breaking that ridiculous Malfoy-Slytherin line," McGonagall permitted herself a tight-lipped smile at Scorpius before turning her glare on Fred while internally thanking Molly Weasley for the rant that now had Fred Weasley almost quivering in fear. Molly really did know how control the Weasley clan, considering even James was sitting up straight and giving McGonagall his full attention.

"Pro-professor will we really be in detention for weeks?" Rose asked in a very small voice. Sighing McGonagall turned her attention to the youngest Weasley, only to find Rose looking terrified. Marcus was almost jealous of Rose's sweet and innocent persona that was sure to get her out of a lot of trouble with the professors. Marcus shuddered imperceptibly as he imagined Slughorn around Rose – as if it wasn't going to be bad enough with her being a Weasley!

"I think I'll let you off this once as it's your first day Miss Weasley. Mr Malfoy and Mr Potter you can go as well. However I must impress on you how important it is not to fall into the ways of these three," McGonagall cast a glare over to Marcus, Fred and James. "I will not let you off detention next time, in fact the only reason I'm letting you go I because I'm certain those three had some corrupting influence over you. But go now and remember next time you won't be let off so easily so don't do something like this again." McGonagall sent them a very stern look before she waved her hand in dismissal. Having looked away, Headmistress didn't catch the look Al and Rose exchanged. Marcus grinned slightly at their "well that's never going to happen" look he knew only too well from the amount of times Fred and James had sent the exact same look to him. It must have been a Potter/Weasley clan thing. Scorpius, Al and Rose hurried out of the office laughing as they descended the staircase. James lounged back into his chair again and began to twirl his wand round his fingers.

"Minnie that's favouritism, you gave us a detention on our first day," James whined. McGonagall turned the full force of her glare onto James. Marcus was actually quite concerned that James would be murdered.

"James Sirius Potter, is there anything else apart from your own well being that is taking up your mental capacity? You have just roped your younger brother and cousin into the Headmistress's office on their first day! Don't you remember how terrified you were? But I guess if it doesn't directly affect the great James Potter it doesn't matter does it? It was bad enough when you dragged Marcus in here last year, but this time it really is a new low. Not one, not even two, but three first-years were in here. Oh and if that isn't enough you have to go and infuriate me more by calling me 'Minnie' which isn't really making anything better is it? Is it really impossible that you learn to have at least some compassion and manners? But I guess it is because after twelve entire years on this planet you have yet to show your own headmistress some respect!" McGonagall finished her rant at James with a glare at his shrunken figure. "You will go to meet Filch in the trophy room at 8pm tonight. There will be no need for magic, but of course you probably know the punishment better then me. Now go before I give you a longer punishment," McGonagall dismissed them by opening the door with her wand before sitting down heavily in her chair. The three boys shuffled out of the office and down the stairs. McGonagall slumped forward in her chair and put a hand over her eyes, her stern persona completely disappeared. She mentally berated herself at shouting at a twelve-year-old like that. However a lone tear slid out the corner of her eye that she quickly wiped away. They were too much like the marauders; even James using that old nickname they'd dubbed her with brought back the pang of hurt that she associated with them now. Her favourite students, Dead. And the other a treacherous idiot that ended up killing one of the only people who cared about him while the other two were lost in the war. And Lily. Another tear slid from her eye. She took a deep breath to collect herself; there wasn't any use in getting so worked up about them. She was just a stupid old woman who was living in the past, the present was here and now. The war was long over.

James sat down in a nearby chair and sighed as Flitwick restarted his explanation on the correct way to perform the _aresto momentum_charm. The Ravenclaws glanced up quickly to see James, Fred and Marcus enter the room before quickly turning back to their extensive notes. Marcus and Fred slid into the seats next to him; chatting amicably. James normally would've leapt into the banter but today he actually felt bad. Yes, the impossible had happened. After countless attempts Minnie had eventually got James Sirius Potter to slightly regret his actions. The prank was still as hilarious as ever, it was more the involvement of his brother and cousin who he should've been looking after. He and that weird albino kid probably shouldn't have ended up in the Headmistress's office. It was the very first day of Hogwarts for them and they would've already been racked with nerves as it was. James ruffled his hair - a nervous twitch he'd picked up from his dad – oblivious to the Ravenclaw behind him narrowing her eyes at the back of his head.

James's thoughts drifted back to his punishment, he was really hoping his dad wouldn't find out. His dad – or more like his mum forcing his dad into some vague form of parental authority – was never pretty. There wasn't any shouting or screaming but the shaking head and disappointed sigh of "I'm sure you'll do better next time" always made James feel immensely guilty. Sure it wasn't enough to actually stop his mischievous habits but it placed a constricting band of guilt around his stomach that slowly squeezed his insides. However he really wouldn't have minded at all if his mum heard, because in all honesty getting told off by his mum was just funny. She always got so worked up that she'd end up ranting about the tiniest things. James smiled a little as he internally replayed his mum shouting at him for having that "stupid Potter hair" the time he'd turned Lily's cat blue. Yeah, that had made sense.

Marcus gave a loud snort at something Fred had said but hastily turned it into a hacking cough; yeah Marcus was smooth like that. However looking at Marcus reminded James about what McGonagall had said. Had James really dragged Marcus with them so blithely? Was Marcus even happy being friends with them if he got in trouble so much? James knew vaguely that his parents didn't really approve of Marcus's detention history, but what parent would encourage their kid to get in trouble? James heaved a sigh. Marcus had always been a very conscientious person in nearly aspect of his life – even James and Fred hadn't been able to stop Marcus's weird habit of actually working in class – so did he actually enjoy spending time with the Weasley/Potter clan and their craziness. The clan was almost the exact opposite of Marcus's polite upbringing compared with their food fights and mayhem. Was it really the best thing for Marcus to be hanging out with him and Fred? They disrupted almost everything he did with new ideas for pranks and unleashing chaos upon the un-suspecting (though they might be a little more suspicious after last year) students of Hogwarts.

James looked inconspicuously at Marcus. He seemed happy enough joking on with Fred while still jotting down a few notes on Flitwick's lecture, but James couldn't help but worry that Marcus would have a better time somewhere else. His hand reached up to ruffle his hair again. James heard an exasperated sigh from behind him and glanced round to see a brown haired Ravenclaw girl with glasses glaring at him. He raised an eyebrow at her that only seemed to provoke her even more. He had never even seen the girl before and here she was getting all annoyed with him for what? Scratching his head?

"I'm sorry am I bothering you?" He asked in faux politeness. She put on a fake bright smile.

"Oh of course not, whatever would give you that impression?" Her tone was sweet, with an undeniable undertone of sarcasm. "I mean it's not like I have to sit behind a self-obsessed idiot who is constantly messing up his hair. It's not like that's a constant distraction or anything," She said giving him another smile that was faker than Erin Duffle's new tan. James was completely taken aback by her unexpected anger.

"Merlin it's obviously someone's time of the month," James said, a small smile curling the edge of his lips before he turned back to his desk. The Ravenclaw stared murderously at James before picking up her hefty charms book to fling at his head. Her two friends saved James Potter from death by charms textbook by restraining their angered friend. James turned to Fred completely unaware that he'd just been saved from the projected missile of a charms book.

"What was that about?" Fred asked as he leaned forward onto his desk, resting his head on his arms.

"Well apparently she hates me," he jerked his head towards the furious girl behind him. "And she's having her monthly gift from Mother Nature," James said with a shrug as Fred snickered.

James, Fred and Marcus filed out of charms; James had actually managed to go the whole lesson without getting killed from a murderous Ravenclaw due to strenuous efforts on her friend's part. Stretching and yawning the three boys raucously made their way down the corridor, grinning and winking at giggling girls as they meandered down to the courtyard. James's heart however wasn't fully in making even fifth years blush as he gave a bright red Hufflepuff a particularly charming grin. His mind still wandered back to his thoughts in charms, he glanced over at Marcus yet again as he tried to catch a glimpse of discontent. The three of them strode over to their favourite bench in the courtyard and sat down enjoying the last of the summer heat that was slowly getting whisked away as an autumnal breeze ruffled the trees in the forbidden forest. For the millionth time James looked at Marcus out of his eye only to see Marcus staring straight back at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Okay James, what's going on?" Marcus asked.

"Who me? I don't know, I mean there's absolutely nothing going on with me, but what about you?" James said rapidly while his eyes darted around the courtyard, his gaze landing everywhere but on Marcus. It totally didn't look suspicious at all…

"Wow, that was so believable James. I am now completely at ease that you're not going to suddenly dump a load of stinksap on me," Marcus said sarcastically. "Really what's wrong? You've been perving on me since we went into charms, McGonagall didn't actually get to you, did she?" Fred gasped in mock horror as James nodded his head.

"You don't mean to say that James Sirius Potter the second most notorious trouble maker at Hogwarts has actually done the unthinkable and listened to a teacher?" Fred asked as Marcus sniggered quietly.

"Second most notorious? Who the hell's the most notorious then?" James asked.

"Me of course, it's not like you can compare with my great intelligence and wit." Fred smirked at James.

"Getting back on track," Marcus said before James could defend himself. "What's up?" Marcus looked directly into James's eye with a very 'Marcus expression'. James sighed to himself, the concerned and patient I'm-trying-to-help-tell-me-now-or-every-puppy-will-die-because-you're-being-horrible-to-me always made James blurt his secrets out. Damn Marcus and his logical patience.

"Do you –in all seriousness – enjoy being my mate?" James asked in a rush before cringing in preparation for Marcus's answer. Fred sighed slightly to himself, as he knew James would pick up on this while Marcus's eyebrows shot up his head as he took in James's question. When he realised that James had indeed been serious, Marcus just started to laugh. James peeked up at Marcus and Fred when he heard the laughter. Marcus started back and forward as laughter shook his body. Fred and James exchanged a look as they both began to worry about their friend's mental health; it was really weird to see their usually calm and measured friend to find one sentence that funny. Marcus managed to calm down his laughter slightly.

"Merlin James we're not toddlers anymore," Marcus said. "You don't need to ask me if I'm your friend. Anyway why would you think that, I wouldn't hang around with you if I detested your presence you absolute idiot." Marcus shook his head but there was still a smile on his face.

"But we didn't exactly give you a choice though," James muttered tilting his head down slightly to hide his face.

"So you don't think a year is enough time to tell you that I hate you? I'm really not sure how you passed any tests with intelligence like that James," Marcus smirked at James.

"Shut up. It was a valid argument, you didn't exactly look happy when we met on the first day," James said as he pouted.

"James it was my first day here and you two got me in detention! Sweet, innocent, pre-madness Marcus really wasn't expecting to be dragged in with you lot!" Marcus grinned.

"James, mate I think you should except that Marcus doesn't hate your guts and quit while your ahead," Fred laughed and looked between Marcus and James. Fred really was friends with the weirdest people. James stuck his tongue out at Fred before asking his final question.

"Wouldn't it have been better if you weren't friends with us," James voice had slowly got quieter as he spoke. Marcus looked James in the eyes, all of his laughter gone from his face.

"Maybe, I would get in less trouble and get work done with better grades," James's heart sank so low it ended up somewhere near the dungeons. "But what kind of fun would I have? Sure school is important if I want to get somewhere, but it's not like you two don't let me do any work. Also what would you do without me? You'd probably have burnt down Hogwarts by now! Anyway you liven up my life and I was perfectly happy to ditch the apple polishing Marcus for present Marcus," Marcus smiled at James who was feeling like getting up and doing a jig, but restrained himself for fear of public humiliation.

"Okay Marcus you love us very much and James you are delusional. Problem solved? Great, so are you thinking about tying out for the quidditch team with us Marcus?" Fred asked diverting the conversation to nearly everyone's favourite topic.

"I don't know, you two being at quidditch could provide me with the opportunity to run away from you two and make my escape," Marcus winked at James who stuck his tongue out in response.

"What ever you say Marcus, personally I think you're not trying out because my immense chaser skills are too intimidating to even try and compete with," James said with a smirk. James heard a snort from behind him, looking round he saw it was the Ravenclaw girl from charms.

"Of course you would think like that Potter," The girl said venomously.

"Oh Merlin," The girl's friend whispered as James sent a glare at the Ravenclaw.

"Well at least I think, unlike you," James retorted.

"Wow saying that to a Ravenclaw remember you dolt. But at least I know how to show some respect," the girl shot back at James, reminding him forcefully of McGonagall this morning.

"I show respect to everyone you cow," the girl looked slightly taken aback at James's forceful defences – James was as well in all honesty but he was too riled from being called disrespectful twice in one morning. It had already caused him enough self-doubt. "You don't even know me yet you're going round passing judgement, does that really seem like someone who should be telling people to show respect?" James said, feeling slightly victorious as he saw her get even more riled up. However when it looked like the Ravenclaw was about to blow her top she took a deep breath and calmed her self down until it seemed she was almost still, which unsettled James.

"Fine Potter if you respect everyone so much, what's my name?" She asked in a level voice, though her calmness didn't quite hide the glint in her eyes. She'd trapped him in a corner. James desperately tried to recall anything over the past year and came up blank. In a last ditch attempt James started guessing names that might suit her. Mary, Jane, Patricia, Betty, Martha didn't seem to fit.

"Okay give me the first letter," James said admitting a slight defeat, but hopefully it would narrow down his choices or re-jog his memory.

"Well seeing as you're the role model to all of us with your high respect for everything surely you should know that. But I'm feeling kind today so, it begins with a B," the girl grinned like the Chesire cat. Unfortunately for James his memory wasn't being particularly helpful towards him that day, so he decided that taking a random guess would probably be the safest option.

"It's Beth isn't it?" He asked. The girl simply raised an eyebrow and shook her head.

"Respectful my arse, we've been in the same classes for a year and you've yet to remember my name. Hogwarts really isn't that big you know there are only a few people in our year, so I though you might've passed that test. But no, you're just as big of a jerk as I thought Potter." With that the girl – who James had know dubbed Beth in his mind even though it was wrong, but else was he supposed to call her? – Walked away. He turned around again to talk to Fred and Marcus only to find them chatting to her two friends. Seeing that James had finished his argument with Beth they said hurried goodbyes and left.

"See you around Carol, Anna," Marcus called after them smiling at each of them in turn to receive a quick smile back.

"Those lasses were nice," Fred commented idly as he slouched into the bench.

"You're doing it again," Marcus sighed. "You're going Geordie on us," Marcus said as Fred looked inquisitively at him.

"Damn, it just keeps slipping out," Fred said with a shake of his head. "But anywho getting onto a much more interesting subject then my occasional accent slip, what did that lass- whoops sorry girl want?" Fred asked.

"To shout at me and tell me that I have no respect for anything, then made me guess who she was called but the best I got was Beth," James sighed as he relaxed into the bench. "I don't suppose either of you know her name, you both were getting kinda cosy with her mates," James asked.

"Now, now Jamsie-poo that would be cheating. Find it out for yourself," Fred smiled deviously at James, as James' face remained un-amused. The bell for their next lesson rang before James could try and wheedle out more information.

"Come on, next lesson's potions with the Slytherins," Marcus said as he consulted his new timetable. James and Fred groaned – potions was their worst subject, it just wasn't chaotic enough to sit patiently by a cauldron for twenty minutes with giant walrus badgering them.

"Should be a barrel of laughs," James said sarcastically getting a laugh out of his two companions as they headed inside.

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**A/N: MERRY CHRISTMAS! I haven't updated in ages and feel like a terrible person, sorry about that ... but on the bright side I have managed to listen to so many Christmas songs to get me feeling festive, pass my music grade and procrastinate so much more then ever before! Oh I also got the pleasure of basically ramming my head against a mental brick wall with the amount of writer's block I've had.**

**Special thanks to wrenthewriter and cc4s when I got your reviews I thought my email had broken or something so thak you very much :) reviews are always greatly appreciated, also another huge thank you - as always - to OnginalMaz for having the tenacity to beta all of this chapter with its giant amount of faults.**

**quick question before I finish: should I skip to the next year either in the next chapter or the one after or keep in the same year and not update quickly due to huge writers block that seems to affect me so regularly? Just wanted to ask you lot first before I did a random time change.**

**-that lass**

**xxx**


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